The Rollaros
by Ira4
Summary: A fluffy Rollaro fic...with a special guest star.
1. Birthday

_Warning – this story is nothing but a silly and a fluffy fic. There's no real plot, just sugary scenes (get your insulin ready)._

 _I don't own Nick or Amanda or SVU_.

* * *

"Dad" a small hand touched Nick's arm "daddy" he heard a whisper and felt the hand push him a bit harder.

Nick turned around and saw the little boy on his knees on the bed, his face very close to his. The boy poked his shoulder, just to make sure the older man was awake.

"What is it Ethan?" Nick asked quietly, not wanting to wake up Amanda, who's been sleeping next to him.

"It's tomorrow" Ethan said, his mouth by Nick's ear "the surprise"

"The surprise?" Ethan nodded excitedly and it took Nick a moment to remember what he was talking about "ok but it's still dark outside" he could see the sun has not yet risen.

"But I want to make the surprise!" he spoke a bit louder and Amanda stirred a little. When Ethan saw her move he placed his finger to his lips, adding a "shhh" to his father.

"We'll do it in the morning" Nick sat up "come on, I'll tuck you in"

Nick got up from the bed and picked the little boy, giving him a quick kiss.

"Go back to sleep" Nick moved the blanket and covered the boy with it.

"Don't forget dad" Ethan turned to his side, closing his eyes.

"I won't" Nick kissed him and lingered in the room, watching him falling asleep.

Nick noticed it was just after 3 am and returned to bed.

"He ok?" Amanda mumbled.

"Yeah, everything's fine" he kissed her shoulder "go back to sleep, birthday girl"

Amanda chuckled but gladly allowed herself to fall asleep. Nick knew she had a long day at work yesterday and when she got back home, after midnight, Nick greeted her with a happy birthday kiss, a happy birthday shower and a very happy birthday love making session. So he knew she was tired and wanted her to catch up on sleep. Specially since Ethan had planned a surprise for her.

* * *

It was all Frannie's fault.

Ethan was drawing something for Amanda as a birthday present while Nick was cleaning up after dinner. Ethan liked cartoons, but wasn't a big TV fan so he usually spend the evenings playing.

"I'm drawing mommy a cake" he called out, keeping Nick informed of the progress. It was a good thing, because the boy's drawing skills were less than average, many of the paintings actually looked the same, whether it was a dog, a human, a cake or the sun.

Frannie walked over to the boy and on her way there stepped on the remote, turning on the television.

"And the best way to start a morning" it was some cooking program "on a special day, is with breakfast it bed, it's such a nice surprise, for so many occasions, like anniversaries, birthdays… surprising someone with breakfast in bed is such a beautiful thing…if you love someone…"

The word birthday got the host Ethan's undivided attention, he let the crayon fall and moved closer to the screen, listening carefully.

"Dad" he rushed to Nick's side.

"Yeah kiddo" Nick dried his hands and looked at the boy.

"Can we make mommy a surprise for her birthday?"

"I thought you're drawing her something, she'd love that" Nick said.

"But I want to surprise her" he insisted.

"Ok, what do you have in mind?" Nick kneeled down, looking into Ethan's face.

"Breakfast in bed!" Ethan smiled that wide smile of his, the one he got from Amanda.

"What made you think about it?" Nick was confused.

"She said it" he pointed at the television "it's a birthday surprise if you love someone!"

"We do love your mommy" Nick smiled "I think it's a good idea, but it means you'll have to be very quiet and not to wake her up, or it won't be a surprise, ok?" Ethan nodded happily "what do you want to make?"

Ethan ran to the TV, hoping the woman on the show will give him an idea and Nick smiled at his son's enthusiasm. Even though the segment had ended and the show moved on to talk about something else, they decided to make Amanda pancakes served with fruits and juice, nothing too complicated.

Ever since he'd discovered the concept of presents Ethan would get thrilled whenever there was a holiday or a birthday. It was the surprise element that excited him most of all, looking at the wrapped box, unwrapping it to find out what was inside. Last Christmas he was running around in the house, searching for something after watching a cartoon about Santa.

"What are you looking for?" Amanda exchanged a look with Nick and asked after the third time he looked behind the TV.

"Where's our chimney?" he asked.

"We don't have one baby" Amanda's reply got her a frightened look.

"No" he walked to his parents "but we need to get one! We have to! For Santa!"

"What are you talking about?"

"How is Santa going to bring me a gift? He needs a chimney!"

Nick smiled at Amanda "don't worry about it, I promise Santa's gonna leave you a present, even without a chimney"

"Really?" his eyes moved from Amanda to Nick, not sure if they were telling him the truth.

"Promise" Amanda replied.

But he loved giving gifts as well, when someone else had a celebration he'd get happy for that person too. When Ethan found out about Amanda's birthday he got excited and told her he'd give her a gift.

"How old are you mommy?" he asked, looking at his fingers "I'm three" he raised three little fingers.

"I'm a little older than that" she smiled.

"Like this?" he raised both hands.

"Oh baby" she kissed each of his palms "mommy's older than that, we don't have enough fingers combined she placed his palms over his.

"And with daddy?" he asked.

"We won't have enough even with daddy" she said.

"That's a lot" his eyes widened and he tried to count the fingers.

"Yes it is" she smiled at him.

When Amanda found out she was pregnant it was quite a shock. They weren't planning to have a child, she was content with being whatever she was to Gil and Zara. She didn't like the use of step mother, but she was living with Nick for a long time and they were spending a lot of time there and she loved them, they were a family.

She got pregnant and she was scared. Gil and Zara were older, they weren't living there all of the time. This baby will be her child, it will grow inside of her, she will give birth to it, she will raise it. She was scared, horrified, worried. But Amanda didn't keep it to herself, she shared the thoughts with Nick and he told her that he's been feeling the same way. He told her it wasn't about how you grew up, about how your parents treated you, that's how any normal person feels. Having a baby is scary. But they will do it together.

As Amanda's belly grew and they found out it was a boy, as they looked at the ultrasound pictures, felt him move and kick. Amanda was feeling something towards this mysterious creature inside of her.

"What do you think he'll look like?" Nick asked.

"If I learned anything in biology" Amanda looked up into his eyes "he's gonna have your brown eyes and your brown hair" she was right, he had Nick's eyes and his dark hair, but he had Amanda's smile and sometimes when Ethan looked at him – Nick could see Amanda behind his expressions.

* * *

"Daddy" Nick opened his eyes, Ethan was shaking his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"It's not dark outside anymore" the boy whispered and pointed at the window.

"Alright" it was already morning and Nick made a promise "let me get ready and I'll be right over"

Ethan nodded and walked out of the room happily.

"What's going on Nick?" Amanda turned to him, still half asleep.

"Don't worry about it, you should get more sleep" he kissed her "love you"

"Good" she mumbled.

Nick quickly got dressed and brushed his teeth. Ethan was eagerly waiting in his room, still wearing his red trucks pajama.

"Let's get you dressed" Nick smiled and helped him take off the shirt. It was getting a little small already, he was growing up so fast.

"You can't see me!" Ethan laughed, the shirt got stuck over his eyes and Nick tried to gently take it off.

"Yes I can" Nick tickled him, loving the sound of his son's laughter "ok, we made it!" he was able to take the shirt off his head and gave him a high five "we need to get you new pajamas"

"But not now, right? We need to make the surprise"

"And we will" Nick assured "I'll help you brush your teeth and then we'll take Frannie for a walk"

"And then we make mommy breakfast!"

"Yes we will make mommy the best breakfast in bed ever" Nick promised.

"Ever ever!" the boy beamed.

Nick helped Ethan get ready and made him something to eat before they took Frannie outside.

"Come on Frannie" he hurried her when he was done eating before the dog.

"A little patience" Nick smiled.

Ethan was such a cheerful boy sometimes Nick wasn't sure who he got that from, but Nick hoped he won't lose that trait.

"But what if she goes out of bed?" Ethan walked to the front door, waiting for Frannie and his dad.

"Don't worry, mommy's not gonna wake up early"

* * *

They got back home not a long time later, Ethan spend most of the walk talking about how much Amanda would be happy with her surprise. He couldn't wait to get back home and Nick had to cut the walk short due to all of the boy's jumping around. He was so cute Nick couldn't wait for the plan to be brought to life.

"First we wash our hands" Nick helped him with that and went to check up on Amanda, she was sound asleep, a fact that made Ethan extremely happy.

"You're in charge of stirring, ok?" Nick placed a chair by the counter and Ethan climbed on it taking a large wooden spoon.

Ethan took his job very seriously, stirring even without being asked,

"I'm stirring it" he let Nick know whenever Nick took something out of the fridge, or returned anything inside it, the boy would place the spoon inside the bowl and mix enthusiastically.

They had to let the batter sit for a few minutes and Nick cut the oranges for Ethan, he helped him squeeze the juice out of them.

"We forgot the flower!" Ethan dropped the orange he'd been holding "we need a flower"

"We don't have flowers, but I don't think mom's gonna care"

"But they had a flower" he insisted.

"You can draw one, ok?" Nick suggested, picking up the orange off the floor "I'll finish with the juice"

"I can draw a lot of flowers" he squealed happily and Nick lowered him down to the floor.

Nick quickly finished preparing the juice and cleaned up the kitchen. Ethan's eager stirring left evidence on the floor.

Ethan returned a few minutes later holding a colorful paper in his hands "look" he smiled proudly.

"Great job, mommy's gonna love it" Nick found the tray that was hidden in one of the cupboards, they never used it and Nick was glad he'd managed to find the thing, or else Ethan would be disappointed, he explained they must bring it on a tray to her room.

"Pancakes time" Nick let him know. Ethan wanted to look so Nick allowed him to stand back on the chair and look from a safe distance. Some of the pancakes turned out weird, but Nick wasn't the best cook so it would have to do.

"Ok, I think we're ready, what do you say?" Nick placed everything on the tray and showed it to Ethan for a final approval.

"I like it" he said and jumped off the stool.

"Hey!" Nick gave him a serious look, he though the stool was too high for Ethan to jump off of, but he didn't want to scold him, and the boy was too excited to notice anyway.

"Alright, let's go wake mom up, gently" He could already see the kid jumping on the bed and on Amanda.

Ethan ran into his parent's bedroom and walked to Amanda, giggling.

"Mommy" he tried to whisper, but the excitement took over his voice "mommy" he looked behind him to see Nick holding the tray.

"Yeah baby?" Amanda slowly opened her eyes.

"Happy birthday" he shouted and climbed on the bed and on top of her.

"Thank you kiddo" she hugged him tightly and kissed his cheeks a couple of times. She raised her eyes at Nick, smiling at him.

"We made you a surprise!" he loudly informed her "breakfast in bed" he pointed at Nick.

"Oh wow! Did daddy help you?"

"He sure did" Nick placed the tray on the bedside table and crawled into bed with them, giving Amanda a quick peck and ruffling up Ethan's dark hair.

"Eat it mom" Ethan ordered and Amanda reached for the tray, carefully placing in on the bed "we made you juice and pancakes and daddy cut the apples and I drew the flowers and a cake!" Ethan remembered the drawing he's been working on last night and got up, almost knocking over the tray.

'Be careful" Amanda helped him off the bed and he ran to his room "this is why he woke you up twice?" she turned to Nick.

"He saw it on TV and wanted to surprise you" he let her know "he took stirring very seriously"

Ethan got back to the room and handed Amanda the painting "it's a cake"

"This is beautiful" she kissed him "this is the best surprise ever, come here" she snuggled with him for a few moments until he wanted her to eat.

"It's so good" she took a sip of the juice and ate a pancake "did daddy mixed the batter?" she asked Ethan, who shook his head with a smile "no? It was you?" Ethan nodded "you did a wonderful job…here" she gave each of the guys a pancake.

They enjoyed the food and Amanda shared the fresh juice with the two of them.

"Abuela is going to pick you up soon" Nick told Ethan "and later we will have dinner together, with Zara and Gil"

"Really?" Ethan adored his siblings and was always happy when they came over or when Nick took him to visit them.

Nick's phone rang "it's grandma" he said before taking the call, Cesaria let him know she was on her way so Nick took the dishes back to the kitchen, wanting to give Amanda some time to get ready.

"Thank you so much" Amanda embraced Ethan, holding him close "I love you so much"

"I love you mommy, happy birthday"

"Come on" Nick picked the boy up.

"Can I have breakfast in bed for my birthday?" he asked his father.

* * *

Cesaria came by about fifteen minutes later and congratulated Amanda before leaving with Ethan and Frannie, to make the dog up for the short morning walk. It was Saturday and Nick wanted to spend a few hours alone with Amanda, she's been working hard lately and they haven't gotten much time just the two of them.

A couple of minutes after he closed the door behind his mother Nick walked to Amanda, a huge grin on his face.

"So we're alone…" he said.

"Oh yeah?" she gave him a daring look as he approached her.

"Just you and me…" he caressed her cheek "what do you want to do?"

"Mmm…I don't know…you have any ideas?"

"How about we continue what we started last night? Call it round one…I'd say it's time for round two" he suggested.

"I like that idea" she placed her hands around his waist and moved them under his shirt.

"It is your birthday" he shrugged "so if this is what you want…"

Amanda decided that talking was a waste of time and captured his lips with hers. He wrapped his hands around her, picking up a bit so he could take her to the bedroom.

They collapsed on the bed and his face hovered over hers, looking into her eyes with a smile "you're gorgeous" he whispered "I love you so much"

"You're already getting in my pants, no need for sweet talk" she kissed him.

"Maybe you should say something to me, or these pants will stay on" he teased and moved his mouth to the side of her neck, sucking on it a little in between kisses.

"It's my birthday…you should be nice" she was breathing heavier.

"So I'm not even nice?" he stopped the kissing and looked at her with a smile.

"You're terrible" she said and pushed him on his back, straddling him and helping him take his shirt off.

"You are" she placed a kiss on his chin "a very…" her lips moved to his neck "very…hot man"

Nick chuckled and Amanda continued her decent down his body.

"That's all you got?" he hissed as her lips reached his nipple.

"That's all you are going to get" she moved closer to his lips "can't let you find out how much I love you"

"Lucky me" he grinned ant turned them around again.

"You are very lucky" she nodded and kissed him "so am I"

* * *

 _The writers could have transferred Nick to a different squad and make Rollaro happen…they can't work together if they are in a relationship but he'd still exist in the SVU universe and in NY. That would have been a much better storyline._

 _I wouldn't really want to see Amanda and Nick have a baby on the show, but it's fun in fics._

 _This isn't a sequel to any o my fics, even though one of my first stories ended up with them having a boy named Ethan. In my Rollaro imagination that's the name of their kid. I love that name and it means strong, and you have to have strong nerves to ship Rollaro (even when the two of them were on the show)._

 _Anyway, hope you liked it. If anyone's interested, maybe I'll write another chapter to this fic._


	2. Patient

_Be careful what you wish for – cause here's another sugary, cavity causing, chapter._

 _I don't think they'll bring Nick back for a guest appearance, we'll be lucky if we won't hear that he's back with Maria in LA. I'm happy for the actor – he deserves so much better than how he'd been treated in SVU, they completely ruined his character. I only wanted them to give him a proper goodbye storyline but was in no way surprised when it completely sucked._

 _As to where this takes place, apart from my delirious imagination, I have no idea…this is very AU, but I guess now every Rollaro fic is AU._

 _I'm not always a fan of fluff too, but writing this is almost like therapy ; )_

 _Hope you like it._

* * *

"Do you want to play a game pequeño?" Cesaria asked Ethan. He was sitting on the couch, not moving, looking down on the floor. He shrugged and didn't raise his eye to the woman.

"Hey" she sat down next to the boy and pulled him into a hug "are you worried about daddy?" he finally looked at her and nodded "I know you were scared but your mom called and he is alright and will be back home soon"

Cesaria knew her son, he always tried to appear strong and show no weakness. When Nick was young he always wanted to protect her, it was her job to keep him safe and she often felt like she failed, staying with her abusive husband, letting him hurt them. But Nick never held a grudge towards her, never blamed her. He had a hard time when he found out she was talking to his father, but they patched things up fast quickly.

He hated admitting he was vulnerable, specially health wise. Even as a teenager he said he was feeling fine when he got sick. Apparently he didnt outgrow this trait, as he's been feeling pretty bad since this morning, but said nothing to anyone until it got worse. When Amanda came home, after Nick's call, he fainted in front of the boy.

Amanda called Cesaria to stay with Ethan while she took Nick to the hospital. He was dehydrated, nothing too serious, and they were already on the way back home.

But Ethan was really scared, and the usually energetic and happy boy has been very quiet for the last hours, ignoring even Frannie, who's been trying to lick his bare feet.

Cesaria has been helping Nick and Amanda a lot ever since they welcomed the little boy into the world. She stayed with him while they were at work and she loved every moment. Ethan was an energetic boy, always jumping and running around, wanting her to play games with him. It was hard to say no to him, whenever she was about to decline an offer he would flash her a huge smile and say 'I love you abuela' and 'you're pretty abuela" and she found herself dancing around with him or running after him in the playground.

So seeing him with that expression was painful, he looked so gloomy, his eyes a little swollen from crying.

"Your daddy is very strong and he is fine" she kissed the top of his head.

"He fell" he raised his head from her chest and looked at her.

"I know" she caressed his cheek "it's ok chiquito"

"I'm not a chicken!" Ethan pouted and she hugged him again.

The door opened and Amanda and Nick walked into the house.

"Dad!" Ethan jumped off the couch and ran to his father, hugging his leg tightly.

"Come her baby" Amanda picked him up.

"I'm ok" Nick smiled at him and patted his head, he was very tired and really needed to get into bed. But seeing his son's worried expression he just wanted to make sure the boy was fine.

"Really?"

"Daddy just needs to rest" Amanda kissed Ethan's cheek "we should let him go to sleep, alright baby?"

Ethan nodded heartily and rested his head on Amanda's shoulder, he waved at Nick as he walked over to Cesaria, giving her a quick kiss before going to the bedroom.

Ethan clung onto her tighter and Amanda patted his back "they gave him fluids at the hospital and he's going to be perfectly fine" she let Cesaria know "thank you so much Cesaria, I know you had plans today"

"You are more important than any plans" she touched Amanda's arm "I'm gonna go back home, there's food in the fridge"

"You're the best, thanks again"

Amanda locked the door behind Cesaria, with Ethan still in her arms.

"Let's put you down for a nap mister" she whispered and walked to his room. The boy was so tired he was half asleep already and Amanda gently lowered him on the bed.

"Sleep tight" she covered him with the blanket and kissed his forehead.

"Grandma called me a chicken" he mumbled and Amanda smiled watching him drift off to sleep.

* * *

Amanda ate some of the food Cesaria had prepared for them. She loved Nick, but as she told him before, his mother's cooking really sealed the deal for her. As someone who's never been very good in the kitchen Amanda appreciated good home cooked meals. Cesaria was a life saver, helping them so much with Ethan.

"There you go Frannie" Amanda filled the bowl with food and patted her for a few seconds "we ignored you today, ha?" the dog looked at Amanda and turned it's attention to the bowl.

Amanda grabbed a glass and filled it with water for Nick. She walked to the bedroom and he seemed to be asleep. She placed the glass on his bedside table and got into bed next to him. She let her eyes move up and down his body, as if she was studying him. Looking at his chest, slowly moving up and down as he breathed, his left hand rested by the side of his body and his right was placed over his stomach. Her eyes moved to his broad shoulders, his neck and up to his chin.

Nick looked so relaxed when he was asleep, his soft features, his even breaths. She wanted to run her fingers in his hair, he had a few white hairs she pretended not to see, he didn't like them but she didn't care, it was kinda sexy, like a lot of things about him.

She gave in and softly moved her fingers through the dark strands. Nick stirred and she pulled her hand away, not wanting to disturb him.

"Hi" he hissed.

"Sorry" she didn't want to wake him up.

Nick turned his head to her and gradually opens his eyes "I'm fine" his voice remained low.

"Good, your son was very frightened"

"He asleep?" Nick asked.

"Yeah" she nodded "he'll be fine, it's you I'm worried about" she placed her hand over his chest and Nick covered it with his.

"I love you" his fingers caressed her palm.

"Good answer" Amanda leaned in to kiss his lips "I love you babe, but I'd appreciate it if we don't have to spend anymore quality time at hospitals"

"Don't you want to see me in that gown again?" he teased.

"Hmmm…" Amanda smiled "are you trying to seduce me with that image?"

"I'm not up for that now, but I'll put that image in your head when I feel better"

"Sounds like a plan" Amanda kissed him again "I brought you water" she said, not moving too far from his face.

"You're the best" he said.

"Don't ever forget that"

"Kiss me again and I won't" he tried to pull her to him but she grinned and moved from him.

"You drive a hard bargain…"

"This is no way to treat a sick man" he shook his head a bit.

Amanda's lips touched his, enjoying the softness. Nick caressed the back of her head, he wanted to kiss her harder, pull her into him, but he was still weak so light kissing had to do for now.

Amanda rested her head back on the bed and moved her hand up and down his chest.

"Mommy" they heard Ethan's voice and Amanda sat up, he was standing at the door, looking like he'd just woken up.

"Come here" she smiled at him and he ran to the bed. Amanda helped him up and embraced the boy.

"Are you ok daddy?" he asked.

"Yeah hijo" Nick tickled his foot and the boy giggled.

"Daddy didn't drink enough and he felt bad" Amanda explained "so you have to make sure he drinks more water, ok? That's what the doctor said"

"Drink daddy!" Ethan ordered, pointing on the water.

"Yes sir" Nick carefully sat up and grabbed the glass.

"Good job" Amanda whispered into his ear and Nick lay back down.

Ethan looked proud of himself and rushed out of the room without saying a word. Amanda smiled at Nick, not sure where their son went. But he came back after a couple of minutes, holding a stethoscope. Nick had brought him a real stethoscope a while back and he was playing doctor, listening to everything he could reach, including beds and walls, but he lost interest after a few days.

"Look dad" he got back into the bed.

"Just like the doctor had" Amanda smiled.

Ethan sat down next to Nick, putting the chest piece on Nick's forehead "I can't hear anything" he looked at Amanda, dropping the stethoscope.

She tried to keep a straight face while Nick moved it over his heart.

"You need to listen to the heart" he said "can you hear it now?"

Ethan put the ear tips in place and concentrated on the sound.

"Well doctor Ethan" Amanda asked "how's the patient?"

The boy turned to her, not sure what to say, so she whispered something in his ear, giving him a hint.

"I pescribe a kiss" he declared.

"You prescribe a kiss?" Nick asked and the boy nodded, planting one on Nick's cheek.

"Can mommy get one too?" Ethan nodded and granted her wish.

"I think everyone's feeling better now" Nick said, watching Amanda smiling as their son kissed her again.


	3. Dinner - part 1

_I'm sorry if I confused anyone last chapter, Nick was only dehydrated, he's not sick. This is a happy fic._

 _When I wrote the first chapter it was only meant to be a one shot. But I'm having too much fun writing the story._

 _I feel like this is a sitcom called 'The Rollaros' (might even change the title) and it has been really helping with the PTSVU disorder caused by the last season._

 _Hope you're still having fun reading this fic._

* * *

"Where are we going?" Ethan asked while Nick put the boy's shoe on, he had no problem with the left shoe but finding the right one has proven itself difficult.

"I've already told you we're going to your abuela for dinner" Nick tried the couch again, maybe he missed it.

"Why?" Ethan played with the buttons of his shirt.

"To eat, aren't you hungry?" Nick had already looked everywhere in the kid's room "where's your shoe?"

Ethan pointed to his left foot.

"The other one smarty pants" Nick patted his head and the boy shrugged "sit here, I'm going to ask mommy"

"Ok" Ethan leaned back on the couch and Frannie climbed next to him.

"Don't let her lick your clothes, we're not gonna have time to change!" Nick walked into the bedroom where Amanda seemed to be done getting ready. She strapped her sandal and smiled at him.

"You look nice" he said.

"Zip me up please" she stood up and turned around.

Nick walked over to her, placed his hands on her shoulders and let them run down her exposed back, giving her neck a lingering kiss "how about we cancel this dinner and eat pizza at home?" he caressed her shoulder blades.

"I'd love that" she turned to look at him "but I think your mom would be upset with us and you won't get the chance to meet this guy"

"Mmmm…" he placed a few more kisses all over the back of her neck and shoulder blades "I know" he slowly zipped up the dress "have you seen Ethan's shoes? I only found one" he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his body.

"I have no idea, let's just put on his slippers or else we will never leave" she let her lips graze his, not allowing the kiss to go any further so they'd make it on time.

* * *

A week ago Nick came home looking preoccupied. Ethan jumped into his arms and Nick showered him with kisses until the boy asked to be put back on the floor.

Amanda knew he took his mother to the doctor and was worried something might have happened. Cesaria was a healthy woman, but you can never know.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, placing her hand on his lower back "what did the doctor say?"

"The doctor said everything's fine" he replied, letting out a puff of air.

"Good" but there was clearly something going on.

"She just…told me something" he spoke.

Amanda kept on looking at him, she didn't want to push Nick but was very curious. What could she have told him? If it wasn't a health issue then why was he so upset?

"She's seeing someone" Nick said.

"Seeing as in dating?" Amanda was surprised by this, all the years she's known Nick he never mentioned his mother having any kind of a romantic relationship.

"Yes" he nodded "apparently she's been _dating_ that guy for a couple of weeks"

"That's great news" she smiled.

"You think? I don't even know him…god knows what he wants…" Nick poured himself a glass of water.

"Are you serious?" she chuckled "what do people want when they date?"

"Exactly" he drank the entire glass.

"Nick!" she tried to control her voice and glanced at Ethan who was concentrated on building a tower from his blocks, it was crooked and Amanda knew it was going to fall down sooner rather than later.

"Well she doesn't have any money" he shrugged.

"I get that you're concerned, but you should think about her. She's human, she wants that connection, she wants…"

"Don't even say it, please!" he begged.

"Get your mind out of the gutter" Amanda smiled "I was going to say that she wants love. Give me one reason why that's bad" she rolled her eyes at him when he didn't say anything.

They both turned to look at Ethan when his tower collapsed, making a loud noise. Ethan stared at it, he was holding one block in his hand, not prepared for this. His expression changed from surprised to sad and he was at a loss of words.

"Come on baby" Amanda walked over to him "let's build this again, ok? Dad will help us"

Nick joined them on the floor and Ethan gave the orders. The tower ended up being higher than the boy and he was very proud of it.

"Don't touch it" he told his parents.

"The architect doesn't want the construction workers to enjoy the work?" Nick asked, trying to sound insulted and Ethan nodded, he didn't know what's an architect, but he wasn't even listening too much, he was busy admiring the structure, trying to control himself and not to touch it.

"I think we should eat something, we've worked so hard on this" Amanda said.

"I agree, let's have some dinner"

"I want dinner too!" Ethan turned to them.

Nick prepared a quick pasta dish and Ethan helped Amanda set the table, she lifted him up so he could place the forks by the plates "one for daddy, one for mommy and one for Ethan" he chanted.

Forks and spoons were his job but since he tended to just put all of them on one plate Amanda sang him that line and he's been singing it every time he helped out.

"Good work buddy" she kissed his cheek and placed him in his seat.

"I'm hungry!" he took his fork.

"Are you?" Nick asked and Ethan nodded "good, the food's almost ready" he placed the pasta on a big plate and gave it some time to cool off.

Nick took the dish with him and sat down. He put some pasta on Ethan's plate and warned him to eat slowly.

"By the way" Nick turned to Amanda, handing her the serving spoon "she want us to meet him"

"That's a good idea, it will help put your doubts to rest" she placed her palm over his hand "I know you're worried, but she deserves to be happy"

"Frannie!" Ethan shouted, she was dangerously close to the tower.

"No screaming at Frannie Ethan" Nick said while Amanda got up and led Frannie away "come sit with us girl" she patted her and the dog lay down by Amanda's chair.

"Sorry" he looked down "I love you Frannie"

"She loves you too baby" Amanda smiled.

Ethan turned his attention back to the pasta, alternating between using the fork and using his hands to eat.

"So when are we meeting him?" Amanda asked.

"She wants us to come for dinner next week…" he looked up at her "she didn't even tell me anything about him, just that his name's Frank"

"So we'll meet him and I'm sure it will be fine" Nick just nodded "look Nick, I know that after everything with…" she didn't want to mention Nick's father so Ethan wouldn't start asking questions, he was to young to care about his family tree but got curios when someone mentioned the word 'dad' or 'mom'.

"You love her and care about her, but that doesn't mean she has to stay away from relationships, that's what she's been doing till now"

"I know, you're right" he nodded.

"You're not gonna be this sulky by then, right?"

"I'll do my best" he promised but Amanda smirked at him, pretty sure he wasn't going to keep this promise.

* * *

"You look so handsome!" Amanda sat down next to Ethan and he rested his head in her lap "give me your foot" she took off the single shoe and threw it on the floor, kissing the bare feet.

Nick came out of Ethan's room with a pair of fuzzy cow slippers. He helped his son put them on and they walked out of the house.

Cesaria opened the door and looked at the visitors "welcome" she smiled, kissing each one of their cheeks "come on in"

Amanda gave Nick a reprimanding look, knowing he wasn't too excited about meeting this guy.

"This is Frank" she led them to the kitchen and introduced them to the man standing there "Frank, meet my son Nick, Amanda and the little one here is Ethan"

"It's a pleasure" he shook Nick and Amanda's hand and then extended it to Ethan, who's been in Amanda's arms.

He was thrilled to shake someone's hand "these are my cows" he raised his feet to Frank after he let go of his arm.

"Nice to meet you cows" Frank shook one of his feet, much to Ethan's delight.

"Go play baby" Amanda kissed the top of his head and put him down. Ethan had some toys in Cesaria's apartment and walked to the box to take them out.

"Would you like something to drink?" Cesaria asked "Frank made some cocktails"

"I know it's early, but it's something light, barely any alcohol" he said and gave each of them a glass.

"It's so good" Amanda took a little sip and looked at Nick.

"Yeah" he nodded and placed the glass on the counter, he's been trying to figure Frank out but tried not to be too obvious about it.

The man seemed to be the same age as his mother, he was dressed in black slacks and a white shirt. Nick listened as Frank explained to Amanda about the ingredients, exchanging a glance with Cesaria.

"Frank was in charge of the cooking too" Cesaria let them know.

"We were really hoping for one of your meals mom" Nick said "we've been eating pasta and take out for the last week"

"Don't worry Nicky" she reassured him "you're in for a treat"

"I don't think we should wait much longer, Ethan's pretty hungry" Amanda was the hungry one, but one of the perks of having a kid was blaming him for all sorts of things…like the fact she wanted to eat, and if Frank's food was anything like the drinks – why wait?

"Sounds good" Frank smiled and Nick walked towards the boy, who's been busy taking out every single toy from the box.

"Dinner is ready" he grabbed his hand and they walked back to the table.

"Oh wow" Amanda was a little surprised when they served the food, there were many different dishes there "everything looks great"

"Frank is a professional chef" Cesaria said "he works at _Clodia's_ "

Frank pulled out a chair for her and sat down beside her. Nick sat down Ethan in the chair next to his so he could help him with the food.

"I think I've heard about that place" Amanda took some of the food "I'm afraid it's too fancy for our wallet"

"I want that one and that one and…and that one" Ethan pointed at various plates, Frank clearly tried to leave a good impression, maybe she should warn him it wouldn't be that easy.

"You are hungry little man" Frank smiled at the boy.

"I'll cut the chicken for you" Nick said and Ethan waited.

"Who are you?" he asked Frank.

"I'm Frank and I'm Cesaria's friend" he smiled at her.

Nick tried to hide a chuckle but Amanda didn't miss it and gave him a little kick under the table.

"There you go" Nick was done with the cutting and Ethan grabbed some of it with his fork.

"I run the kitchen, make sure the food goes out perfect"

"If it's anything like this…" Amanda complimented, she thought Cesaria was a wonderful cook, but this was a whole different level.

Meanwhile Nick was silent, Amanda glanced to his direction, seeing that both he and the child were chewing on their food. Ethan looked at his dad and tried to imitate his expression, looking straight ahead seriously, one eyebrow just slightly raised. She gave him another kick and Nick snapped out of it.

"How long have you been there?" he finally asked something.

"Just over five years, it's a bit different than what I love to make, but it's not my restaurant so…" he let out a short laugh.

"Daddy" Ethan whispered.

"Yeah?" Nick turned to him.

"Daddy" he whispered again and Nick knew what he wanted.

"Let's go kid" Nick picked the boy up and took him to the bathroom.

Ethan wasn't interested in eating anymore and returned to the toys and Nick got back to the table, the conversation seemed to have changed from Frank's job to his personal life and Nick was happy to find our more information about him.

"I have two kids, a daughter in Arizona, she's a teacher and a son in Texas, he caught the cooking bug from me and owns a food truck there" Frank said.

Nick had to admit the food was very good. His mother seemed to really like this guy, she was laughing at his jokes, smiling at him. Amanda was right, his mom deserved happiness and love. Ever since his father left them she hasn't had been in a relationship, he didn't even know if she ever went out on dates. She sacrificed so much to be there for his sister and for him, especially for him. Moving in to help with Zara, all her help with Ethan. She never complained and was always happy to help.

"How about the two of you come to the restaurant?" Frank offered.

"I don't know" Amanda smiled apologetically "that's probably our food budget for an entire week if not more"

"Are you kidding? As my guests! On the house" he said "I don't think the little one would enjoy, but I'm sure the two of you will like it, if you're into trying new things"

"I'm happy to watch my grandson" Cesaria offered.

"Thank you" Nick smiled, placing his hand on Amanda's back "we'd love to…that would be our only chance to have dinner in a fancy restaurant"

Amanda smiled at him, knowing this was more than just Nick agreeing to free dinner.

"We had a great time" Amanda thanked them, they finished eating and were about to head home.

"And I was serious about the dinner invitation, just let me know and I'd love to have you visit Clodia's"

"We will, it was nice to meet you" Nick picked up Ethan and shook Frank's hand and kissed his mother's cheek "love you mom"

"I love you to Nicky" she kissed Nick and Ethan.

"Bye abuela" Ethan waved and Nick whispered something in his ear "bye Frank"

"Goodbye little man" Frank winked "it was nice to meet you and your cows"

"I guess I'm gonna give Frank a chance" Nick said when they in the car.

"As if you have a choice" she grinned widely "I'm dying to try that fancy food"

* * *

 _Next chapter's gonna be their date night_


	4. Dinner - part 2

_I changed the title of the fic, since it's a collection of scenes this one seems more suitable._

 _I'm glad you like Ethan, but he's only going to appear it the beginning of this one. Even if Nick stayed in NY we would never get any real Rollaro, it was just a game, the writers didn't know how to write it in or out of the show, it's not the only storyline they dropped and only we as fans care._

 _As I already mentioned, this fic is a happy one so no one's going to get kidnapped/die/the measles. I like to think that if Amanda and Nick worked things out they could be very happy together and this would be the result…_

 _Some loving smut in this chapter, consider yourselves warned._

* * *

"You're gonna be a good boy for abuela?" Nick asked Ethan.

"But I want to go with you and mommy" he insisted, crossing his arms and pouting a little.

"Tonight mommy and daddy are spending some time alone, you are going to have a sleepover at Abuela's"

"Can Frannie come with me?" Ethan was whining a little, he was in a clingy mood the entire day and refused to let Amanda go get a shower until Nick took the boy to his bedroom.

"If you promise to be good for abuela and say goodbye to mommy without crying, ok?"

Ethan nodded shyly, giving up on fighting and wrapped his arms around Nick. This was one of the way he showed he was sorry, it was hard to resist to one of his hugs.

They knocked at the bedroom's door and Amanda opened it, she just walked out of the shower and was wearing her robe.

"Someone here wanted to apologize" Nick said looking at the boy.

"Oh yeah?" she asked and picked Ethan up.

"Mommy" he whispered in her ear and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah baby" he looked so cute and remorseful, how could anyone be angry at him?

"Sorry" he played with her damp hair a little.

"You're going to behave at abuela's home?" she asked.

"Daddy said Frannie can come with me" Amanda looked at Nick and he nodded.

"Alright, I love you baby" Amanda kissed him.

"I love you mommy and I love daddy and Frannie and Abuela and…"

"Ok, ok" Nick took him from Amanda's arms, Cesaria was going to be there soon and he still had to get him dressed "you love many people and they all love you back" he raised him above his head for a moment and walked back to the living room.

Cesaria came by a few minutes later and Ethan was happy to see her, he told her Frannie was going with him and she agreed to that.

"Have fun" she said and gave him a kiss "I'll bring them over tomorrow morning"

"Thank you so much mom"

"Be nice to Frank" she smiled and Nick nodded.

* * *

Nick took out his clothes earlier so he could get ready in a different room. Living together took away the mystery, the butterflies before you meet, and even though he wouldn't change a thing about their relationship, it was nice to have this tiny surprise element.

He knocked on the door when he was ready and smiled when she opened it.

"Hi" she said and Nick was a little speechless. She was wearing a blue square neckline dress that ended right above her knees. Her hair was down, she let it curl a bit, knowing he liked that.

"You look…not bad" he decided to tease her.

"You're not to bad yourself" she gave him a quick kiss and walked out of the room.

He opened the front door and moved some of the hair to whisper in her ear "you're breathtaking"

Amanda turned to him with a wide grin on her face "I still think you only look not bad"

* * *

They reached the restaurant and the hostess greeted them with a smile, the place was packed and she had to send a few couples away.

"I will show you to your table" she said and they followed her "I'll let Frank know you're here" the hostess walked to the kitchen and a few minutes later he showed up with a younger man walking next to him.

"Nick, Amanda" he smiled and they got up to shake his hand "this is Aaron, he's one of our best waiters and he will take care of you, I've planned a great meal for you, it's our tasting menu, I hope you'll enjoy"

"Thank you" they said at the same time.

"Would you like to start with some wine?" the waiter asked.

"That would be great" Amanda said.

"I will be right back" he smiled and disappeared.

"Aren't we going to have a say in this meal?" Nick looked around.

"I think he's got the entire thing planned, which I don't mind at all" she placed her hands on the table "we won't have to waste time on choosing what to eat"

"You're being lazy?" he mocked.

"Saving my energy for better things" she winked just before Aaron came back with the wine. He poured it to their glasses and told them a bit about the wine.

"Thank you" Amanda smiled at him before tasting it "not bad"

"I see you're skimpy on the compliments tonight" he noted, placing his glass back on the table.

"Waiting for something to be worth it" she shrugged.

Aaron came back with two small plates "this is our toast and Zucchini foam" he placed the dishes in front of them.

They were a bit surprised by the size, it was tiny.

"Ok" she gave Nick a questioning look "so we just put the foam on this small toast, it's like a crouton?"

"Let's not ask anyone" he said quietly and took a bite of the…sandwich "it tastes like a combination of Zucchini and soap"

Amanda tasted it and nodded "you should have been nicer to him, then he would have served us real food"

Aaron was back a moment later with another waiter in tow. The second waiter took away the empty plates and Aaron served them the next dish "this is our grilled scallop with jalapeño foam sauce"

"The foam is…" Amanda looked at Aaron "it's like a thing"

"Yes ma'am" he nodded "it is our specialty, this is why all these people come here. Enjoy"

"Enjoy" Amanda smiled at him.  
They got two more dishes before deciding it was time to flee, but Frank didn't mention how many portions this tasting menu had.

"We can't even use Ethan as an excuse" Amanda said "tell him you feel bad"

"He's gonna think it's the food" Nick countered.

"That wouldn't be a lie…what about a headache? You have a terrible migraine…" she suggested.

"I don't know" he thought about it "maybe we could say we're full?"

Amanda burst into laughter "who's gonna believe that?"

"Ok, we'll tell him I don't feel well" he agreed and Amanda smiled "don't look so happy about my suffering!"

"I'll make it up to you by buying pizza"

They apologized to Frank and Nick tried to put on a show, nothing excessive, he was a grown man who could handle a headache.

"I'm so sorry to hear that Nick" Frank looked worried "I hope you'll feel better"

"He's gonna be fine" Amanda said "he has a tendency not to drink enough, I'm gonna take him home and make sure he rests"

"I'd love to welcome you here again"

"Thank you" Amanda smiled and led Nick outside.

"This is why I didn't want her to date" Nick turned to Amanda "now we have to go back there again"

"We'll just make an excuse" she said "let's go get pizza, I'm starving"

They bought the pizza from a place they liked and took it home, feeling weird sitting there looking a bit fancy.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked when she didn't walk to the kitchen with the food.

"I think we should take this opportunity and eat in bed" they've been trying to teach Ethan that eating takes place at the table so now was a good time to break the rules.

Nick followed her to the bedroom and she placed the box on the bed "this is amazing" she took one slice.

"So the pizza's amazing and I'm not bad?" he grabbed a piece.

"I'm tasting the pizza…" she shrugged and took another bite.

"I have to agree, this is so good, and no foam"

"I kinda miss the foam, you think there's a pizza foam? Regular dough with foam tomato sauce and foam cheese"

"You're on to something here" he handed her another slice.

"Yeah, a way to ruin pizza"

Each had another piece and Nick placed the cartoon on the floor, thinking he'd put it in the fridge later. Right now he wanted nothing more than to lie next to her.

"This is the best part" she scooted over to him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"You're the best part" he mumbled against her forehead.

Amanda crawled on top of him, kissing his lips, slowly deepening the kiss, letting her tongue play with his. Nick moved his hands to her back, rubbing it tenderly up and down until he reached her butt and squeezed it lightly. His palms traveled back up as Amanda's lips moved to his neck, nibbling on it.

Nick reached to the top of the dress, he wanted to unzip it so bad. Amanda's mouth moved to the other side of his neck and a little lower, grazing the collar of his shirt.

She sat up and smiled at him, placing her hands flat on his chest before turning her attention to his buttons. Nick let his hands rest on her thighs while she was busy undressing him. Once every button was free he moved up and she took the shirt off. He didn't lie back down, instead, he captured her mouth with a fiery kiss and got to her zipper again.

He slowly unzipped the dress, enjoying every moment exposing her skin. No matter how many times they made love, and there was no way he could guess the right number, it always felt good and new to him, he was always taken aback by how touching her made him feel, by how her touch made him feel.

She allowed him to lower the dress and his lips sucked on her collar bone while he sneaked his hands to her back, unclasping her bra and throwing it somewhere. Amanda arched her back letting him fondle and kiss her breasts. Nick's hands moved to her waist and his fingers softly moved up to her breasts and down again, making her body tingle.

With his lips still connected to her body he lowered her on the bed. Once her back was on the mattress his lips glided down her body, her soft moans were an approval of his actions, they also increased his arousal, he wanted her to groan louder, call his name. It was a good thing he knew exactly how to make her do that.

Nick got up to remover the dress and her underwear, getting rid of his remaining clothes as well.

"Come here" she whispered.

"Not yet" Nick gave her a wicked smile and shook his head just a bit and got back on the bed, spreading her legs so he'd have enough room. He squeezed her thighs playfully, kissing them once in a while. He leaned forward to kiss her lower abdomen and allowed his lips to drift down, he heard another soft moan escape her lips and he didn't need to look up to know that her mouth was slightly opened, that she struggled to keep her eyes open, wanting to look at him but the pleasure he was giving her was taking over her body.

"Ah Nick…" she groaned when he teased her clit with his tongue and teeth, Nick's movements switched between his tongue gently fluttering against it and his thumb rubbing it a bit harder. He looked at her and for a moment wanted to stop everything and burry himself inside of her. She moved her hand lower and he grabbed it with his free one. He continued stroking her clit and kissed her palm.

"I love you" he mumbled against her skin and placed it back on the bed. His mouth went back working on bringing her to a climax. It didn't take long and she screamed his name as she was pushed over the edge.

Amanda tangled her fingers in his hair as he made his way up. Her breathing evened out a little and she turned to him, grinning widely.

"I love you too" she said and he kissed her lips.

She turned her back to him and he ran his fingers up and down her spine, kissing the back of her neck.

"Nick…" her voice shivered when his finger found her clit yet again, she needed to feel him inside of her and he loved the little hint of frustration in the way she sounded.

It was enough teasing, seeing her body in front of him, waiting for him, wanting him, he couldn't wait a second longer and guided himself into her body. He had to rest his head against the back of hers because the sensation has taken over his entire being. Nick felt her move, urging him to do the same and thrust harder.

She savored the feeling of his rough skin rubbing against hers, his large palms holding her close, his breath on her skin. She wasn't going to last long, not with the way his thumb rubbed her. Amanda felt him move faster, each thrust was frantic and it meant he wasn't far from ecstasy too. With a few quick movements they were both panting, riding the climax together.

Nick rolled off her and lay on his stomach looking at her, watching as her chest heaved. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and felt her move, she rested her head on his back, her long hair spread across his back. She didn't seem to mind he was sweaty, she was too. Her fingers played around his skin, caressing it. Her touch was so soft and loving he didn't want to budge for fear she'd stop.

A while later Amanda moved her face close to his, her fingers remained on his back, still moving gently. His lips touched hers, giving her light kisses.

They looked into each other's eyes, enjoying the silence, the closeness. They were both tired, sleep wasn't far away and they welcomed it. This beautiful day may have ended, but tomorrow was going to be just as good, they were going to wake up in each other's arms.

* * *

 _Next chapter someone comes to town to visit Nick…_


	5. Visit

_I've never shipped anything except for Rollaro and all we saw was her touching his pinky and their knees touched one time. It's like the writers were afraid that if they kiss all the televisions/computers will be just burn down cause it would be too hot or something._

 _Good thing I've decided to just ignore it and pretend they're happy together. Even though writing all this fluff gives me sad ideas too (but they will not appear here…this is a Rollaro happy place)._

 _You've asked something about them working, hopefully the next update will deal with that._

* * *

"It's weird, right?" Nick asked, looking at Amanda "why would my mom ask me to come by alone?"

"I don't know, she really didn't say anything?" Amanda asked.

"No" he shook his head "just that she wanted us to have dinner alone, may there's something she has to tell me"

Amanda shrugged, it wasn't like Cesaria to invite Nick alone. Sure, sometimes she needed help at the house or with something else. But she always explained why, she wasn't a secretive person, not usually. Amanda couldn't remember a time she and Ethan weren't asked to come to dinner with Nick. Cesaria welcomed her from the moment Nick told her about them and when Ethan was born she was a lifesaver.

Amanda wasn't going to say anything, Nick was worried as it is, but she agreed with him, it was strange.

"I'm sure everything's fine" she caressed his arm.

"I hope so" he gave her a quick peck.

* * *

"Daddy where are you going?" Ethan asked, Nick was putting his shoes on.

"I'm going to visit abuela" he replied and picked the boy up, tickling him until he laughed. That sound was like a drug, he loved those giggles so much. Ethan reached Nick's neck and tried to tickle him back.

"Are you trying to be the tickle monster?" he asked and Ethan's smile widened.

"Alright" Amanda walked to them "I want in on that"

"Did you hear that Ethan?" Nick's eyes widened a little "mommy wants to play tickle monster"

"Yes!" he squealed and Nick moved towards her.

"Get ready mommy" Nick warned "this little tickle monster is on his way…"

"Tickle" Ethan moved his fingers and lowered his voice to sound like a monster "tickle"

Ethan tickled Amanda's neck and giggled at her reaction.

"Ok my little monster" Nick gave him a kiss "I need to go, have fun you two" he kissed Ethan again before putting him down on the floor.

"Bye dad!" Ethan ran to the couch.

"Bye babe" Amanda kissed his lips before he left.

* * *

Cesaria opened the door with a smile "thanks for coming Nicky"

"Of course mom, what's going on?"

"Always with the questions, come on" they walked inside and he tried to fight the urge to question her again. But he was about the get the answer.

"Hey Nick" he heard a woman's voice.

"Sonya" Nick looked at his mother and then at his sister "what are you doing here?"

"Surprise" she raised her hands and smiled as she walked to him and kissed his cheek "don't look so upset"

"I'm not upset, why didn't you tell me you're coming" he turned to Cesaria "is this why you asked me to come alone?"

"I asked her not to say anything, wanted to have dinner just the three of us" Sonya smiled.

"Everything's fine?" he was still not sure why it had to be just them. Not that he wasn't happy to see Sonya, he loved his sister and cared about her a lot, but they had so many disagreements, like her relationship with their father.

They saw each other on holidays and ignored the subject, but he knew she was spending time with him. Nick didn't want anything to do with his father, he didn't want to hear about him or talk to him.

"Come on, I made your favorite" Nick wasn't sure if she was talking to him or to his sister, but he loved anything Cesaria made.

They had a nice dinner, Cesaria brought up stories about them as children and they enjoyed laughing about it. Sonya teased him a couple of times about them.

"Ma showed me pictures of Ethan" Sonya said "he's such a cutie pie"

"I would have brought him today" he answered.

"You think he remembers me? It's been a while since I last saw him"

"You're always welcome to visit, he'd love to see you" Nick smiled, taking a sip of water. Cesaria exchanged a look with Sonya and Nick didn't miss it "what's going on? Are you ok?" he looked at Sonya.

"Yes, is that the first thing you think about? That I have a problem?" she threw a piece of cucumber on him "thank you very much"

"Everything is alright Nick" Cesaria assured him "why don't you talk alone, I'll be back later"

Her leaving didn't make Nick feel more comfortable but Sonya smiled and moved her chair next to his.

"So…I'm getting married" she finally told him the big news.

"Getting married?" he had no idea she was even seeing someone, right away his mind went to her doing something rush, maybe she was pregnant? But Nick decided not to ask and let her tell him more.

"I've been seeing Carlos for over a year, he's a great guy"

"I hope he is" Nick smiled "congratulations"

"Thank you" she looked down for a moment "are you going to come to the wedding?"

Suddenly it hit him that his father would probably be there "I will" he said, she was his only sister and he wanted to be there for her, but it wasn't going to be so simple "I'd love to come to the wedding, but just me, I know Nicholas is going to be there and I don't want my kids to spend time with him" he stopped to take a breath "after what happened when Zara was at that party, I know it's been a long time…but I'm not taking any chances"

"I figured you'd say that" she said "I kinda thought you wouldn't want to come at all, so I appreciate that"

"Sonya, I love you and I'm happy for you, but I don't want my kids to have any connection with him"

"Well…I get that, I'm not going to argue with you about this and I've actually explained the situation to Carlos and we've discussed it…and decided not to invite dad to the wedding"

Nick gave her a questioning look, not sure what to say.

"I want you and your family at my wedding" she smiled.

"Yeah?" he asked "I think I might like this Carlos guy"

"I knew you would" she smiled "there's something else…I want you to give me away"

Nick tried to control the smile that was threatening to spread all over his face, he was taken aback by the request "you want me to give you away?"

"Yes" she nodded "I know we fight a lot, but you've been there for me, even today when mom told us all of these stories, you've always tried to protect me…even though you're trying too hard sometimes, I still love you and I want you to do that"

"I'd be honored" he hugged her.

"One more thing" her eyes sparkled "I want Ethan to be the ring bearer"

"Ok, I'm sure he'd like that"

"Check this out" she took out her phone and showed him photos of kids in fancy clothes "he's gonna look so adorable wearing one of these suits!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Sonya" he chuckled "but he's not going to wear something like this, he really doesn't like a lot of layers"

"We'll see" she smiled.

* * *

Nick was greeted by Frannie when he got home, apart from her the living room was empty and Nick could hear Amanda and Ethan in his bedroom. Nick quickly changes and walked over to them.

They were lying in his bed, he was cuddled in her arms, her hand softly caressing his dark hair while she was reading him his favorite book "Annie the magician"

"'One, two, three' Annie said 'I will turn this puddle into a…"

"Sea" Ethan completed the sentence.

"And boats will sail and waves will be in my wide, beautiful…"

"Blue"

"Sea" she kissed the top of his head.

"Daddy" Ethan raised his eyes and waved at Nick.

"Room for one more?" he asked and they moved so he could lie on the small bed. It was crowded, but they didn't care. Nick smiled at Amanda, as if to reassure her everything was fine and he'll talk to her later.

"Now she swims" Ethan touched the page, he knew it almost by heart.

"Why don't you read to us?" Nick asked.

"Mommy" the boy refused and Amanda kept going.

Ethan fell asleep with his head against Amanda's chest in the middle of the last page and Nick carefully got out of the bed taking the book away from Amanda and smiling as she tried to wiggle her way from the boy's embrace without waking him up.

Nick let her walk in front of him and turned off the light in the room, leaving the door half opened.

"So?" she asked.

"Sonya was there" Nick walked to the kitchen and smiled seeing how messy it was.

"Really? You didn't know she was in town?" Amanda walked after him and they cleaned up together.

"We'll have dinner together tomorrow, ok?" she nodded at him "this visit was a surprise, she's getting married"

"Oh…" Amanda liked Sonya but she knew Nick had a hard time with her sometimes, a lot of it revolved around Sonya's relationship with their father. Amanda supported Nick's decision not to be involved with that man, but she could understand Sonya's side too.

"She wants Ethan to be the ring bearer" Nick smiled "wants him to wear like a ten piece suit"

Amanda laughed at the idea, knowing Ethan never liked to wear complicated clothes "I hope you told her that'd never happen"

"Yeah" he nodded and kissed her lips "so we'll be going to Miami in a few months"

"A vacation…" her eyes widened.

"You wish" he smirked "it's gonna be insane…she asked me to give her away"

"So you're gonna have to work and I'll just have fun, might even save you a dance"

"No" Nick shook his head "I want all of them" he kissed the side of her neck and placed his hands on her waist "every single one" he kept on placing light kisses all over her neck, pushing her body against the counter.

"Mmmm" she rubbed his back "you might be able to convince me if you keep this up"

"Don't have to tell me twice" he lifted her up and carried her to their bedroom.

* * *

 _I still have a few ideas for this fic, I want to write about the wedding._

 _I feel like I'm a matchmaker for the Amaro's, but everyone is happy in this (magical) fanfic._


	6. Comfort

_So you've asked about the work situation, I didn't put much thought into it cause I don't want to complicate this fic. But Amanda is still a detective in SVU (but maybe in LA), I'm not sure what Nick's doing…he's working but not with Amanda._

* * *

When Ethan was born Amanda fell completely in love with that little creature and promised her self not only to protect him from all those real monsters, she promised he'll always know she loves him. Growing up with indifferent parents Amanda knew how it felt no to be loved and Ethan was never going to experience that.

In the last few weeks Ethan was into monsters, but the monsters he liked were cute, funny and lovable. The monsters Amanda had to deal with were completely different. No matter how long she worked in SVU she never got used to it.

She did her best to separate work from home, leaving the cases at the squad room. But once in a while a case came along which was especially hard to handle, extra heart breaking. In the last few days they were busy with a tough case, a particularly disturbing one, making the entire squad work overtime and lose sleep. Amanda didn't get to sleep at home for two nights and came by for a couple of hours to take a shower and give Ethan a hug.

Even though they were able to close the case, it did not end with the desired outcome. A bad ending to a terrible case. The whole squad was defeated.

* * *

Amanda loved her home, they moved there a few months before Ethan was born to have enough room for all of them. But it wasn't just the extra space Amanda loved, she loved the people in it, the dog, the furniture. It really was her home.

Amanda unlocked the door and Frannie greeted her, wagging her tail happily "Hey girl" she patted her "I missed you"

There were noises coming out of the bathroom and Amanda knew it was bath time. She hurried to the room, wanting to see her boys, no matter what, they always made everything better.

"Mommy!" Ethan squealed when he saw her, almost jumping out of the tub.

"Careful buddy" Nick held on to him, not wanting the boy to slip.

"Hey baby" she kneeled close to him and kissed both his cheeks, moving to quickly taste Nick's lips.

"Look mom" Ethan raised a yellow plastic boat "abuela gave me a present and I said thank you" he seemed proud of that and Amanda rewarded him with another kiss.

"You are the sweetest boy ever" she said.

"Thank you" he smiled. Nick was teaching him the importance of being polite so the words 'thank you' were often heard.

"You ok?" Nick asked quietly, he heard about the outcome of the case and wanted to make sure she was alright.

Amanda nodded and gave him a faint smile before turning her attention back to Ethan and the toys he's been playing with. It seemed like a race between the new yellow boat and a zebra that used to be in his room and somehow ended up in the tub.

"Who's wining the competition?" she asked him.

"No, the boat is driving him home" he corrected her and they just watched him play for a while. .

"Ok kid, it's time to wash this hair of yours" Nick ruffled the boy's hair.

"Foam monster!" Ethan screamed.

"Are we talking about Zucchini foam here?" Amanda grinned at Nick and he chuckled taking the shampoo and soaping the boy's dark hair. When he was done he formed a pair of horns from the foam and Amanda gave Ethan the mirror so he could see himself.

He was clearly pleased and started roaring and moving his hands like the cutest monster ever. Wiggling his small arms he managed to wet most of Amanda and Nick's clothes.

"Time to welcome Ethan back" Nick washed the shampoo off of him and wrapped him in a big towel so the only parts visible were his face and feet.

"I want to give mommy a kiss" he said and she picked him up exchanging kisses with him "thank you" Ethan smiled when she handed him back to Nick.

"I'm going to take a shower" she looked at her shirt "not that I need one now"

* * *

When Amanda was out of the bedroom, after that shower, Ethan greeted her with another wide smile "look mom" he pointed on his mouth.

"You lost a tooth" she noticed there was a molar missing.

"I gave it do dad and he gave me a dollar!" he beamed "and I said thank you"

"What are you going to do with it?" Amanda loved his excitement.

Ethan shrugged and pointed at another tooth which was dangling.

"Looks like you'll have two dollars soon" he nodded and started checking the other teeth, trying to see if how much money he was going to make.

"I'm rich" he said.

"Will you take us out to dinner now that you're rich?" Nick joined them.

"Ok" he agreed.

"Thank you" Nick kissed him "we already know where not to go" Nick winked at Amanda and she smiled.

Ethan went back to playing and Nick caressed her back "you ok?" he kissed her shoulder.

"It was a rough one" she sat back on the couch "from beginning to end"

It wasn't hard for Nick to understand how she was feeling and he knew that sometimes she didn't need words, didn't want to talk, Amanda just needed to be shown she wasn't alone. Nick pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Don't let go" she whispered and planted a kiss on his neck.

"Never" he said.

"Thank you"

They pulled away after a while but she rested her head against his chest while he leaned back on the couch, holding her.

Ethan saw them cuddling on the couch and climbed on it to join them.

"Come to me" Amanda pulled him into her arms and.

"Mommy I love you" he yawned.

"I love you too baby" she smiled, they had to put Ethan to bed but she wanted more time with him, to kiss and hug this sweet boy of hers.

"And who loves me?" Nick tried to sound insulted.

"What do you say Ethan? Do we love dad?"

"We do!" Ethan climbed on top of her so he could give Nick a kiss.

"It's bed time" Amanda got up from the couch and picked Ethan up.

"But I want to play with you" he whined a little.

"We will play tomorrow" she promised "right now you are going to sleep, and I'm going to sleep"

"And daddy is going to sleep" Ethan turned to look at Nick, who was still on the couch.

"Yes, everybody's tired" she kissed his cheek and Nick heard him mention Frannie's name, probably wondering if she was going to sleep too.

* * *

As Amanda and Ethan disappeared into his room Nick got up to clean up. Sometimes he wasn't sure how this one little boy was capable to all of this mess. When the living room didn't look like a playroom anymore he realized Amanda didn't come out of Ethan's room. Maybe he convinced her to read him another book.

Nick walked to the boy's room and smiled at the sight in front of him. Both Ethan and Amanda were asleep, his head was on her chest, hugging her with his arms and Amanda had one hand around his small body. They had the same expression while they slept, with their lips pouted just a bit.

He hated waking her up but couldn't leave her there. Nick carefully moved Ethan and picked her in his arms.

"Mmmm…" it seemed like she might open her eyes but she stayed quiet.

Nick lay her down on their bed and covered her with the blanket. He kissed her forehead and watched her for a couple of minutes, thinking he was so in love with her it almost hurt sometimes. He got into bed and moved his body to hers, wanting to be closer.

"I love you Nick" she mumbled as his arms were around her "you're the best tooth fairy"

* * *

 _Next chapter I'm going to write part 2 of 'visit' about the wedding in Miami. I'm kinda out of ideas, maybe a chapter about the pregnancy? We'll see._


	7. Pregnant

_Here's the pregnancy chapter. Hope you like it : )_

 _I finally realized what Nick's job is and you will too in this chapter (it's not a big part though)._ _I don't see them get married, Nick was already married and I don't think it's a big deal. I like it better when they are "just" together._

 _And I'm working on my other fic, California Crossover, I hope to update it this weekend,_

* * *

Nick walked through the front door and hanged his jacket on the coat rack. He stepped inside, into the house he's been sharing with Amanda for the last months. It went by so fast, she moved to his place, started working in the LAPD. He couldn't remember ever being this happy.

He got to wake up next to her every morning, see her beautiful smile when she woke up, or that frown when she was still tired but couldn't go back to sleep. He got to kiss her every day, make love to her. Share the little things, it all seemed so easy.

With everything they've been through, seen the other go through, all the pain and suffering…it didn't matter if she left her clothes on the floor as long as he got to hold her after a long day. They let go of all the past fights and arguments and let themselves be happy.

Thanks to an old friend from narcotics Nick was able to get a desk job at the DEA, even though his knee was in a much better shape, it wouldn't allow him to go back to the field but it was a good job. He worked mostly normal hours and was able to spend time with his kids and spend a lot of time with Amanda. Things were better than good.

Nick saw her lying on the couch in the living room, she wasn't supposed to be back from work for a few hours and he wondered what she was doing home so early. He thought she might be asleep, the only sound was Frannie's chewing.

"Amanda?" Nick walked to the couch, her eyes were closed but she still answered.

"Yeah?"

"I thought you'd be back later, everything's ok?" he sat down beside her.

"I wasn't feeling well so I came home" she opened her eyes slightly.

"Want me to get you something?" he caressed her forehead "water maybe?"

"Sure" she nodded and he gave her a peck before walking to the kitchen.

Amanda sat up on the couch and followed him with her eyes "thank you" he sat next to her and gave her the water.

"So…" she emptied the glass and placed it on the coffee table.

"Want anything else?" she didn't seem physically ill, but there was something in her eyes he couldn't read.

"Nick" she looked at him and he scooted over to her, a bit worried "the reason I'm not feeling so good is cause I might be…" she took a deep breath, looked down on her knees and almost whispered the next word "pregnant"

It took her another minute to look up at him, he was staring at her and now they were both quietly looking into each other's eyes.

"Are you sure?" he finally asked.

"I took a test but left in the bathroom" she shrugged "I'm too scared to look"

"Amanda…" he wasn't sure what to ask "how long have you suspected?"

"I've been late for a few weeks, and I threw up at work today…and…I don't know…something feels strange"

"Ok" he was kinda shocked, and was very unsure of what to say "you want to go check out the test?"

Amanda shook her head "no"

"You want to sit here and wait?" he wanted to just run there and see the results, but Amanda needed his support, he wrapped his hand around her and pulled her close, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Fuck…this is…" she started "what if it's positive?"

"How about we go look and talk about it then?"

"I don't know if I can get up Nick" he tightened his hold.

"Want me to carry you?" Amanda laughed at his response.

She loved him so much, being close to him, with his hands around her, he made her feel safe. When the thought about being pregnant first jumped into her head Amanda pushed it away, to a far, far away corner. She loved the way things were going. She was doing well at work, things were good at home with Nick and his children. Gil and Zara stayed with them almost every second weekend and once in a while in the middle of the week, even when they didn't stay over he tried to see each of them once a week at dinner. She knew Nick wanted to spend more time with them, but he appreciated the time he got. They were great kids, and Amanda loved them.

But a child of her own…she never saw herself as a mother and they never talked about it. Things were good, they were so happy together. There were times in her life she was so lost she did not believe things would get better, but she was wrong, things were better, her life were good.

"Come on" she entwined her fingers with his and stood up.

"Whatever it is" Nick said before opening the bathroom's door "it's gonna be fine" she nodded at him, he was right, it would be fine.

Amanda picked up the test "no" she shook her head "I'm not pregnant"

Nick hugged her again, he wasn't sure what he's been feeling but whatever it was, she looked so…disappointed? He couldn't figure it out.

Amanda pulled away after a few minutes and threw the test away "false alarm" she smiled and kissed him on the cheek "I'm gonna go to bed, my stomach still hurts a bit"

"Ok" he caressed her hair and watched as she walked to their bedroom. But Nick wasn't ready to leave her alone. She could have been pregnant…a child with Amanda…

Nick rushed after her, she was already under the covers so he undressed and climbed into bed, spooning her "I love you" he said.

"I love you too" she replied.

"You ok? Want me to get you anything?" he wasn't sure whether she was upset or relieved and bringing her something seemed like the only way he could make her feel better.

"You're sweet" she whispered and turned to him "but I'm fine"

"Yeah?" his lips grazed hers.

"Of course, a baby?" she chuckled "we'd have to like…raise it"

"That's how it works"

"I'm happy the way things are" she kissed him again.

Everything was good, no need to mess things up.

But a week later Amanda wasn't feeling any better, she was still throwing up and she still didn't get her period. But the test said she wasn't pregnant, so it had to be something else, it had to be.

* * *

"You're pregnant" the doctor said.

"I'm what?" the test said she wasn't, she wasn't pregnant. Amanda grabbed Nick's hand, he insisted on going with her.

"Pregnant, Ms. Rollins" he repeated "the morning sickness should pass by the second trimester, usually" he chuckled "you need to schedule an ultrasound"

"But the test was negative" Amanda's voice was shaky.

"The tests can be wrong" he leaned back "but you are pregnant"

Amanda and Nick walked out of the room and didn't speak a word. She scheduled the ultrasound and walked out of the building.

Nick wasn't sure what to say, he was happy, he always wanted to have a lot of kids. Sure, he thought they'd all have the same mother – his wife. But it didn't matter now, things were good. A child with Amanda, it made him even happier.

Once they were in the car she started laughing, not a soft giggle, she was laughing with everything she had "we should sue them for that test" Amanda couldn't calm down "the money's gonna help us out"

"Amanda…" he started.

Amanda got quiet all of the sudden and instead of laughs she started sobbing.

"Hey" he touched her shoulder.

"Oh god…" she wiped the tears "I'm pregnant…I don't think I can do it"

"What are you talking about? Amanda, you are incredible, if you want to have this baby…you will be an amazing mother, because I know you will love it…our kid"

"Our kid" she repeated and smiled at him, she placed her hands on her stomach "fucking shit…a baby, I'm scared"

"Me too" he kissed her "we will be alright"

"I hope so" she kissed him back.

"We'll have the cutest kid ever" Nick whispered into her ear.

"Or the most stubborn, annoying one"

"I say cute…you'll see I'm right"

* * *

"Ready Zara?" Nick asked, raising the ball.

"Throw the ball dad!" she shouted.

"Let's see what you can do Zara" Gil patted Frannie.

Nick threw the baseball and Zara hit it. Frannie ran after the ball and the kids rushed after her.

"Good job Zara" Amanda clapped, she was sitting in the shade, leaning on a tree. She was thirty eight weeks pregnant and running around wasn't easy. After having a picnic Nick and the kids started playing baseball and she watched.

Frannie caught the ball and brought it to Amanda "come here girl" she patted her.

"She could be a great baseball player, if there was a league for dogs or something" Zara said and sat down next to Amanda "is he kicking?" Zara loved feeling the baby's movements.

"Not right now" Amanda shook her head.

"I can't wait to meet him!" she smiled.

"Me too" Amanda rubbed her belly "soon"

"Can we go back to the game?" Gil and Nick walked to them.

"I was just checking in on our little brother" Zara turned to him, frowning a bit.

"You just don't want to lose!" he countered "I did better than you"

"I so did better!" she got up.

"Only because dad threw the ball"

"What are you saying?" Zara asked.

"I'll throw it and let's see if you can hit the ball"

"Let's see that!" Zara patted Frannie and the dog followed them.

"Play nice" Nick said and let them play by themselves for a while. He sat down next to Amanda and caressed the baby bump.

"He's been calm today" she let him know "giving me a break"

Nick moved lower and kissed her belly "be gentle hijo, don't kick your mom too hard" the baby responded by kicking and Amanda chuckled.

"He's already rebelling" she said "not listening to his father"

"No, he's just happy to hear my voice" he kissed the stomach again.

"Is he kicking?" Zara shouted and ran to them, followed by Gil and Frannie. She touched Amanda's belly and smiled when she felt the kick "you chose a name yet?"

"We want to meet him first" Amanda answered, they have talked about it, and Zara offered some peculiar name ideas which were all declined.

"I want to stand" she told him, wanting to change position and Nick held her hands to pull her up.  
"It's time to head home" Nick kissed her.

* * *

"You sure it's ok?" Nick kissed her lips.

"Yes, go drive Gil home, I'll be fine" she said. The baby was supposed to be born any day now and Nick didn't like leaving her alone. Gil has spent the weekend with them and Nick wanted to drive him home. It was time they got to spent together, just the two of them. Amanda knew they both enjoyed it and insisted he'd go so Gil wouldn't have to take the bus.

"Go Nick" her eyes widened a bit "we promise to wait for you here"

"Alright" he gave her another kiss "I love you"

Gil said goodbye to Amanda and Frannie and they left.

Amanda sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, the baby kicked "we're alone kiddo" she said and smiled to herself. When she found out she was having a boy she started talking to him. First it felt weird, but after a while it became natural and he responded to her voice. Her singing soothed him when he was playing imaginary soccer.

She couldn't believe he'd join their family soon. After this long pregnancy she would finally hold him. It went by mostly uneventful, she tried to eat healthy but had crazy cravings, specially for ice cream, their fridge was filled with Ben and Jerry's and almost nothing else. Nick went to get her pizza in the middle of the night more than once. Those were pretty normal, but once in a while she ate them together as it was the tastiest thing ever, it always made Nick laugh.

Amanda closed her eyes for just a few seconds, she was tired but didn't want to sleep and end up staying up late. But sleep took over her anyway. She was awakened by a sharp pain, a cramp.

She got up to get a drink and felt it again, it didn't hurt that much so she ignored it, and took a sip of water.

"You want to go for a walk Frannie?" Amanda knew it would take time for Nick to come back so she decided to take the dog out for a while.

They moved to a new house four months ago, they needed more room and were able to find a nice place with a tiny yard. The kids helped Nick with the baby's room, they chose a light green color for the walls. All the furniture and clothes were already there.

Nick told her his mother decided to move to LA so she could be close to them and her grandkids. She promised to help with the baby and Amanda knew she'd need her. Ever since she moved closer to them they got along really well.

Amanda took Frannie to their little yard, she didn't feel up for going too far. The pain returned, this time it was worse but it happened sometimes, a few cramps, it was probably nothing. A while later it was back, this time it felt like more than just a cramp, she felt like her whole body hurt.

 _Damn it_ , she thought, this wasn't a contraction.

It couldn't be.

Nick was still far, probably hasn't even dropped Gil off yet so this couldn't be a contraction.

 _No, no, no._

"Let's go back home girl" Amanda said and slowly returned inside "baby, wait a couple of hours"

Amanda knew that if she called Nick he'd drive home like crazy and endanger himself, he wasn't going to delay anyway. She couldn't do it without him.

She tried watching TV, hoping it would distract her. It was a cooking show, whatever they were making, it looked yummy. But she wasn't hungry, she felt that pain again and it hurt even more.

"Oh fuck…" she whispered, how long has it been since the previous one?

She was going to push through, Nick sent her a text he was on his way back and it would take him a few hours, she could make it.

Amanda tried breathing, she couldn't remember what she was supposed to do, probably go to the hospital but not without Nick, he had to be there with her.

She asked him what to expect when she was about four months pregnant "I probably shouldn't say this, but it's really gross, right?" he was making dinner and she stood by him, for encouragement.

"Actually, I don't know" he shrugged "Zara was born in an emergency C-section so I wasn't allowed to be there"

"I didn't know that" she took a spoon and tasted the rice.

"Yeah, well, this is going to be my first time too"

"I was counting on you for support" she touched his shoulder "tell me what to do"

"I think the doctor would do that" he smiled to her and caressed her belly "but I will support you, be there every step of the way" Nick leaned to kiss her.

"Promise?"

"You're not gonna have our child alone" he kissed her again "you're never gonna be alone"

"Mmmm" she wanted more and pulled him for another kiss, more passionate this time "I love it when you say that" she looked into his eyes "how about we skip dinner?" Amanda's lips moved to his neck, nibbling on a sensitive spot.

"Let me just…" her hand made it's way inside his pants and he lost the ability to speak for a moment "I just need to turn off the stove"

He did exactly that and carried her to the bedroom.

* * *

It's been an hour and the contractions were still strong, but they were pretty far from each other so she still had time. Frannie followed her as Amanda tried to walk around between them. The phone buzzed and she saw Nick's name appear on the screen.

She tried to sound calm, not wanting to worry him while he was on the road "hey Nick" she said.

"Hey, I'm on my way home, left San Diego already" he told her.

"Oh, goo…" she felt it again, another contraction "d"

"Amanda?" there was something in her voice "you ok?"

"Yes…just" the pain passed "everything's fine"

"You want me to stop and get some pizza?" they were out of food, Gil enjoyed a lot of the food Cesaria had made.

"No!" she sounded almost horrified "I'm not hungry"

"What's going on?" he knew something was off.

"Nick" she tried to sound as calm as possible "everything's great, you had fun with Gil?"

"It was great, we found a station on the radio, they play old songs and I told him stories about hearing them for the first time"

She chuckled "sounds like fun"

"Want me to sing to you?" he offered.

"Yes, I want to hear an embarrassing story and a song to match"

"You're mean" he smiled "I'll tell you a story, but promise not to be jealous"

"Depends on the story, but I'll do my best"

"Ok" she could picture his smile and it calmed her down "I was about 14 and I liked a girl, Lucia"

"Lucia" Amanda repeated.

"Lucia, she was the cutest girl in class and I had a crush on her"

"Oh…that's sweet"

"I wasn't the only one, but I had a secret weapon, I knew she liked Bryan Adams…"

"I can see where this is going" she laughed.

"You asked for a story, let me tell it!"

"Sorry, I'm all ears" she stopped talking.

"I decided to use her love for Bryan Adams for my advantage and…I waited by her house one morning before school and offered to walk with her and…started singing Heaven… Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years…"

Amanda couldn't keep the laughter in, picturing Nick singing the song while walking a girl to school "what happened? She fell for you?"

"No, she broke my heart"

"No way…poor Nick"

"At least she kept it quiet and no one ever found out" he chuckled.

"Until now, but your secret's safe with me" she felt another contraction, it was more painful and she squealed a bit.

"Amanda?"

"Sing it for me" she tried to change the subject.

"I will when you tell me what's going on, and don't say everything's fine if it isn't"

"I…I think I'm kinda…not sure…might be in labour" it was useless to pretend she was fine.

"WHAT?" Amanda could see him squeezing the gas paddle "contractions? How far apart?"

"Like twenty minutes, maybe more, I'm fine, it's ok"

"I'll call my mom and she'll take you to the hospital" he said.

"No Nick, please, you'll be here in about an hour or so, I have time and I only want to be there with you, ok? Let's not call anyone yet"

"Amanda" he didn't want to listen to her, she was going to give birth and she was alone, he promised she wouldn't be.

"If it gets worse I'll call you mom but I need you, and I don't want everyone to be there with us, promise me you won't call anyone"

"I'm staying on the phone with you, ok? If I hear something I don't like I'm calling her"

"Deal, but he's waiting for his dad"

"How bad does it hurt?" he asked.

"Hurts, but I can handle it"

He was glad he had his badge cause he was driving way over the speed limit, but he had to be there with her "I know you can, I'll be there soon, just imagine I'm rubbing your back when it hurts"

"I miss your hands" she felt another one and this time didn't try to hide it "wait a little more time baby" she talked to the boy.

He hated being so far away now, there was nothing he could do, at least if he was next to her he could hold her, let her squeeze his hand, whatever she wants.

"It's fine" she said after it was over.

"I don't like this Amanda" he was worried it would take him too long.

"Trust me, I know there's time"

"Ok. Whatever you want, I love you"

"I love you too, and I know I promised, but I'm a bit jealous of Lucia, you've never sang me anything"

"You will get a song, but I can't promise you're gonna like it"

"Lucia clearly didn't" she laughed.

"I thought you felt bad for me…my broken heart and all that" Nick pretended to be insulted.

"What did she do?"

"She told me I was a terrible singer and that I almost ruined the song for her" he confessed, she really hurt him back then.

"You dodge a bullet, she sounds like a…well, she was fourteen so I'm not going to call her a you know what"

"I'm over her, I'm with someone else now" Nick said.

"Tell me more about this _someone else_ " Amanda asked with a smile.

"Oh…you want to hear about her…" he started "let's see, she is the love of my life" he wasn't teasing, he wanted to be honest "she's smart and funny, when she looks at me, it just makes everything seem perfect, she has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen…"

"Fuck" she yelled, feeling another contraction.

Nick was pretty sure he was already going as fast as possible but it seemed too slow "I'm talking about you, don't get angry" he tried to make a joke.

"I really need you" it was evident in her voice and he just felt like he'd never get there.

"I promised I'd be there and I'm so close"

"I'm not having this baby without you Nick" she started to fear he won't make it, she could call Cesaria, she'd be there for her, but she only wanted Nick.

"You won't have to, tell our boy to wait for me"

"I'm so scared Nick, we're gonna be ok, right? You promised he's going to be cute" she felt another contraction.

"And he will be, I'm less than half an hour away Amanda, you ok?"

"I will be" Amanda got up and tried to walk a bit, she patted Frannie "I think she's scared, it's ok girl, I'm ok"

"I see our street" he said after a while "your bag's ready?"

"Yeah" the bag's been sitting by the front door for a few days.

"I'm hanging up now, I'm a minute away"

"See you soon Nick" she placed the phone on the table and waited.

The door opened and she wasn't sure she's ever been so happy to see him, she was about to take a step towards him when she felt something wet.

They both looked down "I think my water broke" she looked at him and he hurried to her, grabbing the bag.

"Come on, it's ok, we'll call the hospital on our way"

"Yes" she was breathing hard "I'm so glad you're here"

"I made a promise" he gave her a quick kiss before walking to the car.

* * *

She was in the bed, having another contraction, they just got worse and worse "I want the painkillers" she shouted.

"I'm sorry" the doctor looked at the monitor "it's too late for epidural now, you will have the baby before it kicks in"

"No, no, no" she shook her head and looked at Nick as if he could fix this.

"You will have a natural birth, many women want that" the doctor smiled "I will be right back"

"I want him fired" she said "I don't like him at all….FUCK I want the epidural" it hurt so much.

"You'll make it" Nick wiped her forehead with a wet cloth "you're so strong…soon we'll hold our boy…"

"Soon…" she chuckled when another contraction hit her.

The doctor came to check on her a few minutes later and smiled again, Nick wanted to tell him it would be better if he stopped with that because Amanda really wanted to punch the grin off of his face.

"It's time" he said.

* * *

"Push" the doctor said, Amanda was in pain, she was pushing for what felt like a freaking hour, where was this baby coming from? It wasn't such a long way, what was wrong with it?

"Come on Amanda" Nick tried to be supportive, but she looked at him with an angry expression.

"I want my song" she said suddenly, her voice was a little mean.

"What?" he asked.

"I want my fucking song!" she screamed, the doctor told her to push again, it hurt so much and she wanted the song he promised to sing to her.

"You're doing great Amanda, just a few more pushes" the doctor said and glanced at Nick "Sing her the song"

"Ok…I'll sing you a song" he agreed.

"Not Lucia's song" she warned him "something for me"

Nick couldn't really think about it, he heard the doctor encourage her again and she cursed, he started singing the first thing that came to his mind "I'm gonna take you by surprise…and make you realize…"

She stared at him again" Amanda…I'm gonna tell you right away…" her hair was sweaty and messy, he couldn't figure out if she was angry or just didn't like his singing, maybe both.

"I see the head" the doctor let them know.

"It hurts so bad" she panted.

"He's almost here" Nick kissed her forehead.

"Small pushes now" the doctor said and Amanda tried to follow his orders, she wasn't sure what she was doing, as if she was not in control over her body.

Suddenly somebody was crying, it wasn't Amanda and she realized it was the baby.

"Here he is" the doctor raised him a little "dad, you want to do the honors?" Nick kissed her again and walked to the doctor. A nurse handed him the scissors and he cut the cord.

"Go to mommy" the doctor handed the baby to Amanda and she wasn't sure what to do, how was she supposed to hold him.

Nick sat next to her and smiled "he's perfect"

"He's hairy" he was rested on her chest and she held him with one hand while she carefully caressed the top of his head, he had a lot of dark hair on that tiny head.

Something was wrong, he was very fuzzy, what was wrong with him?

It took Amanda a moment to realize there was nothing wrong, she was looking at him through tears.

She looked at Nick who had tears in his eyes too, accompanied with a huge grin.

* * *

The nurse took the baby for some tests and Nick went with them so the doctor could examine Amanda and bring her back to her room.

"We're back" Nick smiled at her, he held the baby in his arms, wrapped up in a blue blanket, and handed him to Amanda "the nurse said he's perfectly healthy" he kissed her "I love you so much"

"After your performance I believe you" she grinned "Lucia was stupid" she looked at the boy "lucky for us, baby"

They looked at him for a while, he was asleep.

"You were right, he's cute"

"Told you" he kissed her cheek.

"He's ours" she whispered.

"He's our son" Nick nodded.

They sat there for a while, staring at the sleeping boy, he stirred a little and Amanda felt something in her heart, like he was pulling a string with every movement. She loved him.

With help from a nurse Amanda fed him and later Nick took the baby so she could sleep. He texted Amanda's boss and his too, he wanted to take some time off to be with her. He called his mother who promised to let Zara and Gil know. Cesaria promised to be there later, Nick wanted Amanda to rest, she was completely exhausted and it wasn't going to get easier.

* * *

"He's so cute!" Zara sent a picture to Gil, he'd get to meet his brother in a few days.

"He looks just like Nicky when he was born" Cesaria kissed her son and he handed her the baby "but he's calmer than you Nick"

"What's his name? I want to hold him too" Zara said.

"Sit down" Cesaria told the girl and she sat down on a chair "support the head" she handed Zara her little brother.

"I'm your big sister, Zara" she whispered "I think he smiled at me!" she looked at Nick.

"He already loves you" Nick knew it probably wasn't a grin but wasn't going to say anything.

"I love him too" she beamed "you're adorable…what's his name?" Zara raised her eyes at Amanda.

Nick took the baby and gave him to Amanda, they haven't decided on a name yet and he was about to say that when all of the sudden Amanda gave him a nod and he could see something in her eyes.

Looking at him in her arms the name was clear, she had no idea why, but it was his name.

"Ethan" she said and looked at Nick, who smiled in agreement "his name is Ethan"


	8. Beach

_I'm kinda stuck on my other fic so I decided to write another fluffy chapter to this one._

 _I forgot to mention the song Nick sings to Amanda is 'Amanda' by Boston, I refer to it in here again._

 _Hope you like it._

* * *

"I'm ready mommy" Ethan jumped up and down, he was wearing his red swim trunks and a white T shirt. His mom just finished applying the sunscreen on his skin.

"We'll be out soon, go get your dad" Amanda placed the tube and a bottle of water in the bag.

"Dad!" Ethan shouted and run to his parent's bedroom, the door was opened and he walked inside "daddy I wanna go now, I'm ready" he walked over to Nick.

"Good boy" Nick picked him up and kissed his nose, which made the boy giggle "I'm ready too, let's go"

"I want to build a castle" Ethan said and placed both hands on Nick's cheeks "a big one"

"You're the boss" they walked to the living room.

"Come on boys" Amanda grabbed the bag and walked to the door.

"Mommy's the boss" Nick winked at Ethan and they followed Amanda to the car.

* * *

It's been a busy week for both Amanda and Nick, they were looking forward to the weekend. This was a weekend Zara and Gil usually spent with them, but Zara was on vacation with Maria and Gil had plans with his friends so he switched weekends.

Amanda knew Nick was upset about it, his children were growing up and it wasn't easy for him. They were good kids, not mouthing off or misbehaving. But they were still teenagers, spending a lot of time texting with their friends, going out with them. The time they did spend with Zara and Gil was great, but Nick just wanted more of it. But Ethan was only three and he adored his parents. Cesaria took care of him while they were at work and he was always happy to see them when either one picked him up.

Since Nick was disappointed and Ethan talking about the ocean for days, Amanda decided it would be a good idea to spend some time at the beach. Even though they weren't living too far from it, they were often too busy or tired to go.

Nick placed Ethan in his seat and strapped him in.

"Drive mommy!" he asked even before Nick got into the car.

Nick sat down and Amanda drove away.

Ethan was staring out the window, kicking Nick's seat once in a while as he played with his feet.

"We're having dinner with your mom tomorrow?" Amanda asked.

"And Frank" he nodded, he was warming up to the man, his mother liked him and he seemed to be a nice guy.

"What excuse are we going to use this time?" she smiled and glanced at him for a second, Frank has invited them for dinner at the restaurant again.

"Maybe we should tell him the truth finally" he suggested.

"That's gonna be awkward"

"Or we can just go and eat there" he shrugged.

"No, we'll just tell him"

"Mommy I want music" Ethan demanded.

"Please" Nick looked at him.

"Please" he said with the cutest voice "thank you"

Nick turned on the radio and Ethan sang along, he didn't know it and just kept on repeating "la la la" the whole time.

Amanda and Nick recognized the next song and burst into a laugh. Ethan looked at his parents and started laughing as well, not sure what was so funny.

Ethan's giggles just made Nick laugh harder "you know what's the song called?" he turned to the boy who shook his head.

"It's called Amanda" he told him.

"Like mommy!" Ethan sounded proud.

"I think you remember the last time I sang it to you" Nick caressed her shoulder.

"Still not sure why I asked you to sing to me then, it wasn't making the pain bearable"

"Not even a bit?"

"Not even a bit" she shook her head "I was just jealous of what's her name?"

"I can't remember"

"Yeah right…" she glanced at him.

"Can you?"

"She wasn't my first love" Amanda teased Nick a bit.

"Well you know what? You never sang anything to me so…"

"Not my fault there are no love songs about Nick" she shrugged.

Ethan kicked Nick's seat again, he turned around and playfully caught the foot in his hand "I think I'm going to hold on to this until we arrive" he tickled him.

"No, no, no" Ethan tried to free the leg.

"No more kicking, ok?" Nick kissed his son's foot and let it go.

"Sorry daddy" Ethan sat back

They finally arrived and Amanda parked the car. Nick took the bag and Amanda took Ethan off his seat "ok baby" she looked at him "Remember not to get far from us, ok?" the boy nodded excitedly "never go into the water alone, right? Just with mom or dad, ok?" Ethan nodded again and Amanda raised her hand for a high five.

"Hat and sunglasses" Nick put them on the boy's head "and we're ready"

"Yes!"

It was early and there weren't a lot of people there. Once they were on the sand Nick helped Ethan take his shirt off while Amanda spread a towel for them.

"Let's go into the water" Nick extended his hand to Ethan after they all remained in their bathing suits, Amanda was wearing a simple turquoise one-piece suit and Nick's shorts were black.

Ethan held on to Nick's hand tightly and extended his to Amanda. The three of them walked to the water, Ethan being raised in the air once in a while.

He got excited when they reached the water, Nick tightened his hold on the boy, knowing that he loved running around, playing tag with the ocean. He jumped around, laughing when the water covered his feet.

"Let's go build a castle" Nick said, needing a break. He picked the boy up and kissed his cheeks.

"A big one!" Ethan exclaimed.

"One big castle coming up" Nick agreed and the three of them walked back to their things.

Amanda handed him the toys and they started working on something that resembled a mountain. Amanda poured each of them some water and they drank before going back to work.

"Who's going to live here?" Amanda asked when Ethan turned over the full bucket and tapped on it.

He thought about it for a moment and smiled "Annie" he answered.

"Annie?" Nick gave Amanda a puzzled look.

"Annie the magician" Ethan explained, it was his favorite book and he loved the part she's turning a puddle into a sea.

They were done with the half mountain-half castle after a while and played near the water again.

"Let's take a walk" Nick picked Ethan up and let him sit on his shoulders. He held him as Amanda placed everything back in the bag.

Nick held one of Ethan's feet and wrapped the other one around Amanda's waist.

"You're full of sand" she kissed him and rested her head on his shoulder for a second.

"I want ice cream" Ethan pulled on Nick's hair a little "please"

"Careful Ethan, leave some hair on my head"

"K daddy" he caressed Nick's head "ice cream!"

"Sounds like a good idea" Amanda said "we'll go get some ice cream"

They stopped for ice cream and Amanda handed Ethan a cone and they made their way back to the car.

"Daddy I dropped it" Nick felt something cold in his hair "I want more ice cream"

Nick gave his cone to Amanda and lowered Ethan to the ground so he could get rid of the sticky cream.

"Sorry daddy" Ethan apologized and looked upset, Amanda tried not to laugh and Nick gave her a serious look.

"There you go baby" Amanda gave Ethan her cone and licked some of Nick's before giving it back to him.

They took a quick shower on the beach and headed to the car. Ethan fell asleep half way home and they drove quietly.

"Go take a shower, I'll put him to bed" Amanda walked out of the car and caressed Nick's back, his hair smelled like chocolate. She carefully took Ethan out of the seat, trying not to wake him up. He was exhausted and she knew he'd sleep for a few hours. She covered him with the blanket and planted a light kiss on his forehead.

"Love you baby" she whispered before walking out of the room.

Amanda patted Frannie and filled her bowls with food and water before going to bedroom. The shower was on and she walked into the bathroom.

She smiled looking at Nick's body under the water, he saw her staring at him and grinned.

"Just wanted to tell you not to bother putting your clothes on" she winked.

Nick's smile widened at her suggestive tone and he stepped out of the shower, leaving the water on, and pulled her inside with him, still completely dressed. He didn't give her a chance to talk and captured her lips with his, pushing her against the tiles.

"You taste like sand" his low voice sent shivers down her spine. He took off her shirt and helped her get rid of the shorts, leaving her in the swim suit.

"You're making it hard on me, ha?" he was talking about the second layer of clothes but she chuckled at the double meaning.

"You know that's how it works, right?" she started peeling the fabric down, slowly exposing her chest.

"I sure do" he kneeled down to take off the soaked suit. Once it was off he kissed her skin as he made his way up.

Nick turned the water off and wrapped a towel around her and grabbed one for himself. They made their way to the bed trying to dry themselves and not part from the other's lips for too long. Amanda pushed him on the bed and he moved back so she could straddle him.

Amanda's hand traveled down his body to rub his erection gently. The sensation forced Nick to let go of her mouth as he had to take a deep breath. Amanda didn't stop, she enjoyed the way her touch made him a bit light headed. His mouth moved to the side of her neck and she smiled and guided him inside her, letting out a soft gasp.

He let her set the pace loving the way she felt and the way her skin tasted. Her mouth was right by her ear and she moaned his name, that made him even more aroused and they were moving together faster and faster.

"Nick…" she moaned again, louder this time and Nick captured her mouth, wanting to taste her. They were over the edge a moment later and breathed heavily, their bodies still connected.

Amanda lay on her back and Nick turned to his side so he could look at her "when you say my name like that" he moved closer to her head and let his fingers caress her stomach "it's better then any love song"

"So I'm off the hook?" she closed her eyes, loving his tender touch.

"Aha…" he kissed her left shoulder and moved lower to her breast.

"Mmmm…Nick…" she knew that's what he wanted "get up here"

Nick did as he was told and grazed her lips with his, he could tell she was tired and rested his head back on the pillow. Amanda grabbed the blanket and covered herself, she knew she should get dressed but promised herself to do that in a second.

Nick got out of the bed and put a pair of boxers on before getting back under the covers. Amanda rested her head on his chest and he was about to say something when he felt her relax against him, falling asleep.

* * *

"I'm up" Nick heard something and opened his eyes, meeting Ethan's smiling face.

"You're up" he realized Amanda was asleep in his arms.

"Yes I'm up" he climbed on top of the bed and sat down by Nick, looking at Amanda, she was covered with the blanket but her back was half exposed.

"Where are mommy's clothes?" he asked.

"Mommy forgot them before going to sleep" Nick made up an excuse.

"Silly mommy" Ethan giggled and Amanda stirred.

"Come on kid" Nick managed to move so Amanda remained on her stomach "let's let mom sleep some more" he grabbed the boy and walked out of the bedroom with him.

"You're hungry?" Nick asked and Ethan nodded "I'll make you a sandwich" he lowered him to the ground and took out some bread.

"Mommy!" he turned to see Ethan rush to Amanda as she joined them in the kitchen.

"You had fun today?" she asked him.

"Yes" he walked to pat Frannie.

"How bout you?" she walked to Nick "you had fun?"

"I had a lot of fun" he kissed her "want a sandwich?"

"Yes please" she smiled and walked to Ethan "we'll eat and take Frannie out"

"Food's ready" Nick placed the plates on the table and Amanda helped Ethan get into his seat.

"Mommy"

"Yeah baby" she looked at him.

"I want a cake" Ethan said, his mouth half full "please"


	9. Horse

Nick glanced at his watch before he unlocked the door, it was after midnight and he tried to be quiet as he walked into the house. The lights were off but he could see Frannie asleep in her spot. Nick locked the door behind him and left his bag by the door.

He's been gone for two days, usually his job didn't require him to travel but once in a while he had a conference or a case that forced him to spend some time away from home. Nick was content with his job at the DEA, he did a lot of background work, research for the agents in the field, his time working undercover was very helpful and Nick knew he was appreciated.

He stepped into his son's room, careful not to step on any of the toys that were scattered on the floor. Ethan was asleep and Nick smiled, he loved how calm Ethan looked, his features so soft. He just wanted to keep him safe and happy, didn't want him to know about all of the grief that's out there, if only Ethan could stay clueless about it as long as possible...

Nick grabbed the blanket and covered the boy. Ethan stirred a little and Nick hoped he wouldn't wake up, even though he wouldn't mind getting a hug and a kiss from his son. Nick stayed there a few more minutes and walked to the bedroom. Amanda was also asleep, lying on his side of the bed. She always did that when he had to sleep somewhere else. Nick wasn't even sure it was conscious, but he loved that she did, it showed how much she missed him.

She was wearing a black tank top, the right strap slipping off her shoulder. He could stare at her for a long time, he missed her too. He wanted desperately to kiss the bare shoulder, feel her skin. Sometimes it seemed to him that they've been together forever and sometimes it felt like they'd just met, that everything was new. It was a mixture of excitement and familiarity between them. He loved her and felt like he belonged with her, she was a part of him.

Nick gave in and allowed his lips to touch her, kissing the shoulder as softly as he could. Not that the effort mattered, he knew she'd wake up from the gesture.

"Mmmm..." she moved a bit and her eyes fluttered open "Nick" she muttered upon seeing him.

"Hey" he leaned forward to kiss her lips "sorry I woke you up"

"No you're not" she smiled, closing her eyes.

"Only a bit" Nick kissed her again.

"Get to bed babe" she said.

"I'm gonna take a shower, ok?" she nodded and he walked to the bathroom.

Nick showered quickly and put on a clean pair of boxers and a shirt. Amanda moved to the other side of the bed and he climbed in beside her.

"How was the conference?" she looked at him.

"Fine" he smiled, they tried not to talk about work in bed so he decided to change the subject "what did you do without me?"

"Exactly what I do when you're here, just alone"

"Oh..." he teased and moved closer to her.

"You have a dirty mind Nick" she chuckled and he winked "but I did miss you, a little"

"Only a little?" he caressed her cheek "I'm offended"

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, she was glad he was back home, weird how things were different with him being away for just two days. They spoke on the phone, skyped one evening with Ethan. Long hours were the nature of their professions. Still, the moment they were together it was as if the pace changed, things were calmer, better. Work remained at work and they focused on one another, on their son, on Zara and Gil.

"I'm glad you're back" she whispered.

"Good to be back" He pulled Amanda closer and felt her falling asleep in his arms.

* * *

"Shame you have to work today" Nick leaned on the fridge.

"I know, but I'll spend tomorrow with you, you'll have fun without me" Amanda smiled at him. It was Saturday and Gil and Zara were spending the weekend with them. Nick made plans to take the them to a ranch, it seemed like a nice place and he knew the older kids will enjoy riding horses and there were ponies for Ethan.

"Want some orange juice?" Nick looked inside the fridge.

"No thanks, we're almost out, leave it for Ethan" Amanda made herself coffee.

As if on cue, the little boy stepped into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes a little. He was dressed in his pajamas, his dark hair was ruffled.

"Look who's up" Nick looked at him and the boy smiled happily and ran to his father.

"Daddy" he hugged him "I miss you!"

"I'm here kid, I missed you too" Nick gave him a couple of kisses and Ethan giggled.

"We saw you in the computer" he said.

"I saw you on my phone" Nick gave him another kiss, he looked so adorable, just woken up but smiling from ear to ear and those cute dimples of his "go give mom a kiss" Nick lowered him on the floor and Ethan walked to his mother greeting her with a good morning.

"I'm hungry mommy"

"Sit down, daddy will make you breakfast" she placed him in his seat.

"Daddy where did you go?"

"I had to work" Nick glanced at him "I had to fly to Texas"

"On a plane?" Ethan sounded excited.

"Yes"

"I want to go on a plane!" he said.

"You will, soon" they were flying to Sonya's wedding in Miami soon but didn't tell Ethan about it yet, or else he wouldn't stop asking about it.

"Tomorrow?" Ethan looked at Amanda and she smiled.

"Not so soon" Nick placed the food on the plate and poured the remains of the juice in a cup "there you go"

"Thank you" Ethan said and Nick sat down next to Amanda.

"I forgot to tell you" she turned to him "I got a call from Fin yesterday, he's coming for a visit"

"Really?" Nick's eyes widened "what brings him here?"

"Remember the case they had, it was all over the news a few months ago" Nick nodded and she continued "apparently they've been asked to speak about it and he got LA"

"It would be great to see him, he's gonna have time to come by?"

"He's gonna have to make time" she smiled, even though she liked the other detectives in her squad, she knew there would never be a partner like Fin.

"Great" Nick kissed her and took the empty cup of coffee in front of her "buddy" he turned to Ethan who was done with his food and was playing with his fork "today Zara and Gil are coming over and we will drive to see horses"

"Horses?" Ethan's eyes widened in excitement and he dropped the fork on the plate.

"Sounds like fun?"

"I wanna go now!" Ethan exclaimed and Amanda chuckled.

"First you have to wait for your brother and sister" she picked him up "and we need to wash this face, right?"

"But I don't want the horse to eat me, ok mommy?" Nick heard her promise him that it won't happen as they walked to his bathroom.

Not too much later Amanda said goodbye to Nick, Ethan and Frannie. The boys took the dog for a walk.

Gil took the bus to LA and Maria was supposed to drop Zara off. She texted him they were on the way and Ethan was so excited to see his big sister he wanted to wait outside.

"No" he shook his head as a car drove by without stopping. They were sitting on the steps, Frannie was following Ethan as he jumped up and down. He stopped whenever he heard a car and hoped it would be Zara. Finally Nick recognized the car and told Ethan to look. He did hold his hand until the car stopped and Zara stepped out to the sidewalk.

"Ethan" she waved at him and Nick allowed him to ran to her she kneeled down and gave him a big hug "how are you?" she smiled.

"I want...daddy...a horse" he was too excited to make a full sentence but since Zara was already aware of the plan she nodded.

"Yep, we're going to see horses" she nodded.

"Yep" he beamed at Zara.

"Bye mom" she waved and Ethan waved too.

Maria took out Zara's bag from the car and Nick walked to her, stopping by his daughter so he could give her a kiss "you can go inside" he said and Ethan held on to her hand as they walked into the house, followed by Frannie.

"He's adorable" Maria handed the bag to Nick. When he moved to LA they made an effort to be ok with each other, they weren't friends but they did their best not to argue as much for Zara's sake. They had disagreements but tried to solve them without yelling. Now that Zara was older she made some of the decisions. Maria was happy for Nick when he told her he was going to have another child. She knew he was living with Amanda soon after it happened, it was a surprise but it wasn't really her business, Zara liked her so she wasn't going to say anything, whatever she had with Nick was long gone.

They picked Gil up on the way to the ranch, he got a heartwarming hello from Ethan too and he sat down next to him.

"Are you excited to see the horses?" Gil asked.

"Yes, I love horses!" Nick smiled, Ethan wasn't too familiar with horses, but he had a tendency to love things he was excited about.

"How's school?" Nick asked Gil.

"It's good, we have a big debate competition in two weeks, I'm going to participate, can you come?"

"Sure, I'll do my best" Nick peeked at him through the rearview window.

"Me too!" Ethan said, Nick has never driven with him to San Diego, it could be too hard for the boy.

They reached the ranch and Nick parked the car, giving Gil a proper hug and letting Ethan out of his seat. He picked him up and gave him a kiss.

The walked to the horses and Nick lowered him to the ground, holding his hand "let's go pet the horse" he said but Ethan stayed planted, staring at the animals.

"Dad" he almost whispered and Nick kneeled down "I'm scared" he said quietly.

"It's ok" Nick caressed the top of his head "they are good, they won't hurt you"

"You don't have to be scared" Gil smiled and extended his hand to Ethan "I'll go with you, ok?"

"Me too" Zara gave him a kiss and held on to the other hand.

Ethan walked with his older siblings towards the horses and Nick followed behind, proud of the fact Gil and Zara were so affectionate towards their little brother.

He took a picture with his phone, Ethan was holding on to Gil and Zara's hands, looking up at Gil, he told him something about horses. When they reached one of the horses Gil petted him first and picked Ethan up so he could pet the horse too. The boy was hesitant but Zara offered to do it with him and once he realized he wasn't going to be eaten by anyone or anything he got more excited and even gladly fed the horse.

After a while Nick wanted to give Zara and Gil sometime to ride the horses, Ethan was too young for the big ones so they watched and cheered. Ethan got to ride a pony and was very happy about it, petting his head talking to him.

They played around for a while before it was time to go back home "ready to go?" Nick looked at the boy.

"But we need to take the horsie!" Ethan said.

"We can't take him, he lives here" Nick took Ethan's hand and was about to walk to the car.

"But I want him to live with me, I love him" he insisted.

"I know you do" Nick saw the disappointed look on his son's face "but we can't take him with us"

"But..." the frown turned into sobs "but I'm sad!" he started crying.

Ethan's tears always caught Nick off guard, he was usually so happy, even as a baby he didn't cry a lot, unlike Zara, who was never content when she was a baby, they had to work hard to find the right temperature for her, the right clothes . She outgrew of that stage, thankfully.

"I know you're sad" Nick gave him a kiss but it didn't calm the boy.

"You know" Gil sat down next to his brother "this is the horse's home, his friends are here, he's going to be sad if he has to leave, you don't want him to be sad, right?"

Ethan shook his head but kept on sobbing.

"You want him to be happy, right?"

Ethan nodded and Zara joined in the conversation "maybe dad could buy you a toy horse, he's gonna be happy to live with you" she offered.

"Yes" Ethan wiped the tears "I want a toy please, thank you"

Nick had no choice but to take the kids to the gift shop and let Ethan pick a stuffed horse, Ethan wanted a cowboy hat and he gave in, buying him both.

They were back in the car, Ethan holding the toy, petting it once in a while and showing it off to Zara, who was now sitting next to him in the back seat. The hat was a little too big and fell over his eyes, but he was too excited to take it off.

Nick made lunch and Ethan refused to part with the horse "horsie wants food too" he told Nick.

"What can I make for him?"

"Carrot" the boy said and Nick was glad they had one left.

"Hey guys" Amanda walked in the house and tried to keep a straight face seeing her son with the cowboy hat "who are you mister?" she walked over to him.

"It's me mommy" he looked up and smiled "this is horsie"

"Hey horsie" Amanda planted a kiss on Ethan's cheek and walked to greet Gil and Zara "how was it?" she asked.

"So much fun" Zara replied "Gil and I rode the horses"

"It was awesome, you should have gone with us" Gil said.

"I wish I could, but I'm here now and we can go to the park, play baseball tomorrow"

"Cool" Zara smiled.

Nick put Ethan down for a nap, he agreed to take off the hat and hugged the horse. Gil wanted to show Zara something on his phone, giving Nick and Amanda a few moments alone.

"How did it go?" she asked after a few kisses. Nick showed her the few pictures he took.

"Then he started crying because he wanted to take the horse with us"

"Seriously?" she chuckled, imagining her son crying because he didn't get a horse.

"He was all 'I'm sad'" Nick tried to imitate Ethan.

"Ohh..." she smiled "at least he got a toy from it"

"And a hat"

"You're such a softy" she wrapped her arms around him "but I still love you"


	10. Fin

_I'm working on California Crossover, but it's going very slow, I hope to update soon._

 _In the meantime, here's an update of this fic, I'm having fun with it, pretending this is what's going on with them. Fin comes for a short visit in this chapter, maybe you remember him, he was on the show since season two (the writers clearly don't)._

* * *

Fin finished his speech, he wasn't a fan of giving lectures but a case they'd worked on in New York got a lot of attention and they were invited to share the story in a few other states. At least Fin got LA so he could visit his former partner. People thanked him when he was done and started leaving the room. He smiled at Amanda who's been waiting by the door, she talked briefly to another detective as he walked toward her.

"See you tomorrow Rollins" the man said and left.

"Great to see you Fin"

"Amanda" Fin smiled and gave her a hug.

He hasn't seen her since she left New York and he was happy for the opportunity. He had to admit her leaving caught him by surprise. It started out with her spending a weekend away, she didn't tell anyone where she was going and when Fin questioned her about it she just told him she spent the time resting. It was a pretty lousy excuse but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

But two weeks later she was gone again, not telling anyone what she's been doing. This time he was a little worried, Amanda has always tried to act like she was in control of everything and he didn't like her keeping secrets.

"Tell me the truth Amanda" they were in his car, about to drive to the station "where have you been? I don't like this secrecy"

"Secrecy?" she gave him a clueless expression "I just want some privacy"

"Hey" he looked straight into her eyes and decided to be straight with her "tell me it wasn't about gambling"

Amanda looked genuinely surprised but why wouldn't he think something like that? She disappeared for another weekend, didn't talk about it. She had to tell him the truth.

"It's not like that" she replied "I was in LA"

"LA?" he was about to ask why when the answer popped into his head "you and Amaro? I thought you two were over"

Amanda shrugged, she thought it was over too, after everything they've been through they decided to be friends. They talked a bit since he moved to LA and one day he offered her to come by for a visit. She's never been there before so why not? He would show her some sights, it could be fun.

She got really excited about visiting him, she tried to ignore the tingles and butterflies in her stomach. When Amanda saw him waiting for her she stopped for a moment, she had to take a breath because it suddenly overwhelmed her, but in a good way. It made her heart swell with happiness and she wasn't sure what was going on. She walked to him and he didn't say anything, not even a 'hey' he just kissed her and she kissed him back. It was a cheesy cliché moment, the one you see in overly sweet movies, only with a different soundtrack. They didn't care though, they allowed their tongues to dance together and their hands to explore the other's back. He drove her to his house and the only sight she saw that weekend was his body. She had no complaints.

"You're gonna have to visit again, I wanted to show you some places" he drove her to the airport and waited with her.

"I liked what you showed me this weekend" she kissed him and hoped to get lost in the kiss, maybe she'd miss the flight "but I like the idea of coming back"

She flew there again and this time they were able to part from the other's skin long enough to eat out. A couple of weeks later Nick was in New York to visit his mother and made sure to visit Amanda, he didn't need a tour of the city and was fine with spending long hours in her bed.

But weekend and phone calls weren't enough, and when she said 'miss you' she meant that her body ached without him and when Nick said the same words he meant everything felt empty without her.

She was lying in his bed, covered with his body, their mouths attached when he suddenly pulled away and looked into her eyes "I love you" he smiled.

She smiled at him "I love you too"

"Stay" he asked, as if it was the easiest thing in the world, as if she didn't live so many miles away. But in that moment the answer was clear.

"Ok" she pulled him into another kiss.

They had to figure some things out but after a while she moved to LA, moved in with him and never looked back. A while later Ethan joined them and she couldn't remember how things were before that.

* * *

The only thing she did miss was Fin, he was a good partner and even a better friend to her.

"How do you like it here so far?" she asked as they walked out of the station.

"Not planning to move, if that's what you're asking" he chuckled "but it's not the same without you"

"Oh" she tilted her head a bit and smiled "I miss you too. Come on, I have to pick up Ethan and we'll drive to my place, I can offer you a beer"

They talked during the drive to Nick's mother's place and Amanda parked the car "be right back" she said.

Fin watched as she walked into the house and a few minutes later she walked out, holding a car seat in one hand and a little boy on the other. His arms were wrapped around her neck and he kissed her cheek and laughed. Amanda placed the seat on the ground and opened Fin's door.

"This is Ethan" she said and looked at the boy "remember I told you a friend of dad and mine is coming for a visit?" the boy nodded "this is Fin, say hey"

"Hey" he smiled and waved.

"A wave?" Fin stepped out of the car "you parents didn't teach you about the fist bump?"

Ethan shook his head, looking a bit confused.

"Make a fist" Fin raised his hand and demonstrated and Ethan followed his moves "and now a bump" he gently touched the boy's hand and moved his hand away "good job"

Ethan seemed delighted by this new gesture and wanted raised his tiny fist at Amanda "fist bump" he said and Amanda humored him.

"Let's go home" she kissed him.

* * *

"I have a dog" Ethan told Fin when Amanda let him out of his seat, before they walked into their home.

"I know Frannie" Fin smiled "we're old pals"

Ethan looked at his mother, searching for a confirmation and she nodded "Fin is a very good friend of mine and daddy's"

"Me too" he said.

"You are a very good friend of dad and mine too" she ruffled his hair and they walked inside.

Frannie greeted the three of them and Ethan hugged her. He sat down on the floor and took his shoes off, throwing then around while Amanda brought Fin a beer.

"So what's going on in SVU?" she asked, handing him the cold bottle.

"Same old" he said and took a sip "Carisi is still not done with school, I call him new guy once in a while just to piss him off"

Ethan ran to the couch and climbed on it "this is my horsie" he showed it to Fin.

"Wow" he looked at it "cool horse"

"Yes" Ethan nodded and took his toy back, walking back to his room.

"You're gonna get a little show now, all of his favorite things" she smiled.

"He looks like a little Amaro" Fin noted.

"Good thing" she chuckled "that's the only way I know we didn't take the wrong baby from the hospital"

Ethan was back with his favorite book and showed it to Fin "this is Annie" he pointed at her and flipped a few pages "this is the end" he ran back to his room to get something else, leaving the book between them.

"He's just so happy, who would have though that's what's gonna turn out from Nick and me"

"You looked in the mirror lately" Fin asked "you're happy" he meant it, he had seen her in her worst and she seemed so far from it now, it was clear things were going well for her. Amanda deserved it.

"My cows" Ethan sat down on the couch and pointed at his feet.

"Cool slippers, you have them in my size?" Fin joked but Ethan took one off and gave it to Fin "I doubt it's gonna fit me, but thanks little man"

"No, I'm a boy" Ethan corrected him. Fin smiled and Ethan took his book and rested his head on Amanda's lap as he looked at the pictures.

"So what's going on with you?" she asked, playing with Ethan's hair.

"Working hard, sometimes" he winked "Ken's moving back to New York soon"

"He's been in London for the last couple of years with Alejandro, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, but they are coming back, his mom's happy"

They talked for a while, Ethan was running around from the living room to the couch, showing Fin different things.

"I was a baby!" he said proudly and showed him a picture, it was him in Amanda's arms, his first day home "see?" he pointed at himself.

Nick came back home not much time later and exchanged a quick hug with Fin "great to see you"

"You too man" Fin said.

"Daddy look" Ethan rushed to him and Nick picked him up "bump!" he made a fist.

"Who showed you that?" Nick asked.

"Fin" he lowered his hand and placed his head on his father's shoulder.

"How long are you staying?"

"I'm not, my flight leaves in a few hours"

"You're not going to have dinner with us?"

"Not gonna have time" Fin shook his head "but it was great to catch up a bit, meet this little guy"

He had to leave after an hour and said goodbye to Nick and Ethan, Amanda was driving him to the airport "stay cool" Ethan gave him a hug.

"Bye Fin" he got a kiss from the boy and they left.

* * *

"Weird seeing Fin after all this time, ha?" Amanda sat next to Nick as they had dinner.

"Yeah, it's been a long time, I think the last time I was even in New York was before mom moved here"

"You know" she took a bite of the roasted vegetables and glanced at Ethan who was placed a carrot in front of horsie, he'd eat it last "I thought about the first time I told him about us, he was worried something was wrong cause I wasn't talking too much about my days off and I had no choice"

"Remember the first time you came for a visit?" he smiled playfully and moved his mouth closer to her ear "when I met you at the airport...took you home"

"How can I forget" she winked.

That day he came to the airport way too soon, he just wanted to see her and couldn't sit and wait. Nick had no idea what possessed him to invite her for a weekend in Los Angeles, but every time they spoke on the phone he wanted more.

When Nick noticed her walking through the crowd, with her carry on bag he stopped thinking, he just _saw_ her. He kissed her the moment she stood in front of him, there was nothing else he could do, wanted to do, needed to do. They haven't left his house once they got inside, spent the entire weekend with their clothes scattered on his living room floor, barely parting from each other.

"We can recreate it, if you feel like it" he placed his hand over hers.

She kissed him "what do you think?"


	11. Worry

"The end" Nick placed the book on the floor and kissed Ethan's forehead.

"Again" the boy gave him a pleading look, he wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, even though he was tired.

"One book" Nick smiled "it'd bedtime"

"Please daddy" Ethan tried again, wrapping his arms around his father.

He shook his head but didn't pull away "one story, but I'll stay with you for a few more minutes, ok?"

"Yes" Ethan nodded "I'm sleepy"

"Why don't you rest your head on the pillow and close your eyes while I sit here, how about that?"

Ethan laid his head down and Nick kissed him and caressed the top of his head for a while,he was very tired and Nick knew it won't take him long to fall asleep.

"I want mommy to sing me a song" the boy whispered.

"Tomorrow" Nick promised and kept on watching him. It was almost like meditating, he was quietly looking at his son as he was falling asleep. His whole body was calming down, his features softened. Nick could probably stare at him for hours.

He turned the lights off and walked to the living room, Frannie was chewing on a toy, ignoring him. Nick checked his phone, no texts or calls from Amanda. He wasn't able to reach her since she'd left this morning, she sent a text that she's gonna be back late but when he texted her back there was no response. He knew what the job required so he couldn't complain, he knew she was doing something important, helping someone who needed it.

Sometimes he couldn't believe it's been so long since he had left SVU, he felt like such a failure then, being forced out of his job. But now he knew it was the best thing for him. Thanks to his move to LA he was finally able to rekindle his affair with Amanda, something that wouldn't have happened if they still worked together. If Amanda and he wouldn't have gotten back together - they wouldn't have had Ethan, and Nick couldn't imagine his life without him or without Amanda.

Nick grabbed a beer and watched some TV, he tried to ignore the nagging little voice that something was wrong. He told himself it was just the silence in the house, making his anxiety louder. It was nothing, she was fine and soon the door would open and she'd say something like 'sorry, crappy day', he'd kiss her and hand her a beer while they talk.

His phone rang and Nick chuckled, sure it was Amanda who was going to let him know what's going on. But Nick was surprised to see the name on the screen. It was his coworker Andrew McCarthy, why would he be calling him now, it was getting late.

"Andrew?" Nick answered.

"Hey Nick, sorry to call so late, I just...wanted to ask if everything was fine"

Why would he ask that? There was nothing Andrew should be worried about, unless...he had a lot of connections in the LAPD and often knew about things that'd been going on there.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

"I'm sorry Nick, look, I heard there's been an incident, some hostage situation that ended badly, I hear it involved the sex crimes unit, and I know Amanda's there"

"What exactly did you hear?" Nick tried to control his voice but it was tough.

"I don't have all the details, but from what I hear there's been a hostage situation, it ended up with fatalities from the department, they are at the hospital..." hearing the name Nick stopped listening, he still heard Andrew's voice "things are still unclear, I hear a lot of reports and wanted to see if you heard anything from Amanda"

Nick wanted to lie, to say she called and told him she was on her way home, he wanted it to be true "thanks for calling, I'll see you tomorrow" he didn't give him a chance to reply and hung up. Nick still held on to his phone, he wanted to call her, hear her voice, but he couldn't do that. If she was still on a scene, he couldn't distract her, she had to be focused on the job and not his fears.

But he couldn't sit and wait without knowing. Andrew told him in which hospital they should be, he could drive there and see for himself.

"Mom" Nick called Cesaria "I'm sorry for calling this late, but I need your help"

"Is everything OK Nicky?" it didn't seem like he had woken her up.

"Yes, it's a work thing and Amanda's not home, I need you to watch Ethan for a while if that's ok, it's important"

"Alright, I'm on my way"

It didn't take Cesaria a long time to arrive and Nick thanked her, promised everything way fine, trying to keep his voice confident.

* * *

Nick wasn't sure how long it took him to get to the hospital, but he knew something was going on, there were many police cars in the parking lot and he rushed inside. He saw officers in uniforms and plain clothes, some were on the phone, some were talking to each other.

Where was she?

They would have called him if something happened to her, but what if...

"Nick? hearing her voice was almost like a dream, he knew it was her but it almost felt unreal.

"Amanda" he rushed to her.

"Is everything ok?" she asked.

"You're alright?" he pulled her into a hug and kissed her temple.

"What are you doing here?" she pulled away and he could see in her eyes that something was wrong.

"Andrew called me" he let her know "told me...that something's going on and I...you didn't call and I was so scared"

"Nick" she tried to smile and grabbed his hand to pull him away to an empty room.

"You're ok?" he caressed her cheek, making sure she was in one piece.

"Yeah" she replied quietly "my captain...he's been hit and...we don't know yet"

"Amanda, I'm so sorry" he knew she got along with him, he was a good person and supported his detectives.

She gave him a quick kiss and he embraced her again, knowing it was a tough spot to be in "how's Ethan?" she pulled away and wiped a single tear.

"Wanted you to sing him a lullaby, I promised you'd do that tomorrow"

"I will" she smiled and took a deep breath "you should go back home Nick, thanks for coming by, but I have to get back there"

"Amanda..." he gave her another peck, he knew he couldn't just sit and wait with her "we'll wait for you at home, love you"

"Me too" she smiled and walked out of the room "see you later"

Nick watched as she walked to one of the officers, probably asking for an update but it seemed like he had nothing. Nick left, feeling relieved she was ok. He hated the paranoia that took over him, it was like fear was the only thing he could feel. But the possibility of something happening to her, it overpowered everything else.

"Thank you so much mom" he hugged Cesaria.

"What happened?" he wouldn't call her to come by if it was nothing.

"Work stuff, I'm sorry I called you like that"

"It's ok, Nicky, I'm gonna return home now"

"You can stay here if you're too tired to drive" he offered.

"No, I'm gonna drive back, I..." she just smiled.

"Bye mom, thank you" he kissed her cheek and walked her to the door, he didn't feel like prying now.

Once the house was quiet again Nick decided to go to bed, he wasn't sure he could fall asleep but just staying up wasn't an option too. He changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and got under the covers. Nick closed his eyes when he heard a voice.

"Daddy" Ethan was quiet.

"What is it buddy?" Nick quickly got up and walked to they boy.

"Bad dream" he looked sad and Nick hugged him.

"It's ok" he kissed the top of his head.

"I want mommy" Ethan looked at him.

"I want mommy too" he confessed "but she will be back later"

Ethan nodded and played with his pajama shirt a little "you want lie here until you fall asleep?" Nick asked him, he kinda wanted the boy to be close.

"Yes" Nick picked him up and sat him on the bed, Ethan crawled under the covers and Nick lay down beside him. He was the father but having Ethan so close made him feel better.

"I want horsie" he whispered and Nick walked to his bedroom to bring the toy "Daddy I love you" Ethan smiled, taking the horse from Nick's hands.

"I love you too son" Nick kissed him. He wasn't planning on it, but he fell asleep watching Ethan. The boy's even breaths lulled him to sleep.

The sound of running water woke Nick up, he opened his eyes and saw Ethan on the other side of the bed, holding on to the horse. He got out of the bed and gently knocked on the bathroom's door. He didn't get a reply but decided to check on her anyway, and he was glad about it.

Amanda was leaning on the wall, just staring at the water, she was still dressed.

"Hey" he closed the door behind him and walked over to her "what is it?"

She turned to look at him "he didn't make it" she replied.

"I'm sorry" Nick wrapped his arms around her "I am so sorry"

"I want to...take a shower" her eyes were red and he knew she's been crying.

"Ok" he was about to caress her when tears started running down her cheeks "it's going to be alright" he pulled her into him again.

There wasn't anything to say in this situation so he just wanted to keep her close, make her feel like she wasn't alone "want me to go?" he whispered and felt her shake her head.

"Why's Ethan in our bed?" she pulled away.

"Said he had a bad dream, I planned on taking him to his room but fell asleep myself. I'm gonna to do that now"

"No" she shook her head again "leave him there, I'm gonna..." she looked at the water, realizing it was on for a long time and started pulling her clothes off "come with me" she said before stepping into the shower.

Nick responded by removing his clothes as well. He knew Amanda so well and what she needed was to feel closeness, not to be alone. Whenever she was feeling really down he'd just hold her, assure her she wasn't alone and would never be.

Once he was under the warm water Nick pulled her to him again, she rested her head against his chest and they remained like that for a few more seconds. Her hair was still up in a ponytail and Nick took off the rubber band, letting it fall down.

* * *

"He looks like you when he sleeps" Nick looked at her and she smiled. They were both sitting on the bed, staring at their son.

"We should get some sleep as well, it's really late" she tenderly touched Ethan's cheek.

"When are you gonna head to the station?" he asked.

"First thing tomorrow...today I mean" she looked up at Nick "let's let him sleep here tonight" she got under the covers and Nick followed.

* * *

"Mommy!" Ethan had a huge smile seeing Amanda next to him.

"Hey baby" she barely got three hours of sleep but seeing her boy's grin made the exhaustion disappear "give me a kiss"

Ethan kissed her and giggled as she tickled him.

"Daddy wake up" Ethan shook Nick's shoulder "I wanna play"

Nick stirred, it took him a moment to remember last night "what do you want to play?"

"A game" he replied as if it was the obvious answer.

"Why don't you go to your room, I'll be right there" Nick sat up.

"K" he got off the bed and walked to his bedroom.

"I'm gonna have to go soon" Amanda moved closer to him "it's gonna be a long day again"

"I get it, do what you gotta do" he kissed her lips and allowed the kiss to linger.

Amanda smiled at him, things weren't going to be easy at the station, the whole squad loved the captain and his passing was going to be hard on everyone. Things were about to change and she had no idea what to expect.

But however hard it was going to get, she had Nick and Ethan at home, and they will always be there and wait for her there.

* * *

 _In my head this became a new spin off, I feel like I have so many of them with Nick and Amanda living in LA, but they are always happy with each other. Good thing that I'm ignoring season 17._


	12. Valentine's

_Even though it's after 1 am here and Valentine's is over, here's a special addition._

* * *

Nick and Amanda had plans this Valentine's. Nothing complicated, they'd have dinner with Ethan, read him a story before bed and once he's asleep – they could have the rest of the night for themselves. It's been a hectic week for the two of them, Nick had a big operation he was in charge of and Amanda was working on a sensitive case. Cesaria watched Ethan a lot, she was happy to help but she made plans with Frank for Valentine's and told them she wouldn't be free to babysit.

Things were going according to plan – Nick picked up Ethan from his mother's place, he gave him a snack and they played until Amanda was home. They had dinner, and Nick organized the house while Amanda gave hurricane Ethan a bath.

He was asleep after one bedtime story and everything seemed to be going great. Amanda took Frannie for a walk and stopped to get them chocolates for desert.

When she walked into the house she found everything was in place, including one very handsome man in nothing but his boxers.

"You should greet me like that everyday" she bit her lip and locked the front door "I really like it"

"I'm glad you do, but I think we should even the playing field, if you know what I mean" he tried to sound casual.

"I think I know what you mean" she slowly walked towards him, gradually unbuttoning her blouse, as if they had all the time in the world.

Nick stared at her, smiling as she exposed more and more of her skin. Damn, he loved her and wanted to show her how much. He wanted to carry her to bed, kiss and nibble on every single inch of her glorious body, slowly make love to her until they are both completely spent. That image was almost enough for Nick to grab her in his arms and forget about the slow pace.

But Amanda was right next to him, every single button was free and all he had to do was push the blouse over her shoulders.

"You like what you see?" she teased, reaching for his waist, but not touching him.

"You know I _love_ what I see"

"Love, ha? Well, it is Valentine's, time to love" she finally allowed her fingers to connect with his skin.

"It's just a day for me…" he shrugged.

"Well, if it's just a day" she pretended to turn around but Nick didn't let her get away, he pulled her to him for a kiss, enjoying the way she took charge, attacking his tongue with desire. He wanted to take this to the bedroom and was about to carry her there.

"Mommy" their son's voice forced them to pull away and Amanda wrapped the shirt around herself. This wasn't a part of the plan, but maybe he had a bad dream.

"What is it baby?" she smiled at him.

"My tummy hurts" he touched it, looking upset.

Amanda smiled at Nick, as if to say that they'll take care of this and will have the rest of the night together.

"Poor baby" she quickly buttoned the shirt and raised him in her arms, caressing his stomach.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We were just going to bed" Nick chuckled, that's what they were about to do.

"My tummy hurts" Ethan looked at Nick.

"How about mommy kisses it and makes it go away, ok?" Amanda offered. Ethan lifted his pajama shirt a little and she gave him a few kisses "feel better?"

He nodded and rested his head on her shoulder.

"I'll bring you some water and then you should try to go back to sleep, ok?" Nick caressed his head and walked to the kitchen to bring the boy a drink.

"Go back to sleep now, ok kiddo?" Amanda kissed his cheek and took him to his room.

"Mommy" Ethan said when he was under the blanket "I want another kiss"

"No problem, can I give you two?" Ethan nodded and Amanda kissed each of his cheeks "good night baby, I love you"

Amanda turned off the lights and returned to the living room "so…" she crossed her arms.

"How about we watch TV, make sure he's ok and then…go on with our plan" he offered.

"Deal"

They spent almost an hour watching some program, they were so busy and didn't follow any programs, Amanda rested her head against him and he played with her hair.

"I'll go check on him" Nick said after a while, they had to go to work tomorrow so if they wanted to get some sleep – they had to get going.

Ethan was sound asleep, he looked fine, had no fever. Nick smiled and walked to the bedroom, Amanda was already there, lying in bed to save some time.

Nick didn't waste time on talking, he climbed on top of her and caught the lips he loved so much with his. It felt so good to kiss her, Nick could never get enough, especially when they were alone and could kiss as passionately as they wanted to.

"Mommy" Ethan opened the door and Nick rolled off of her.

"What happened?" Nick asked.

"My tummy hurts, what are you doing?"

"We just wanted to go to sleep" Amanda explained and pulled him to her "your tummy hurts?" she asked.

"Yes" he looked sad and Amanda gave him a sympathetic look.

When he was born she was ready to take him to the hospital for every single sign of discomfort, but Nick calmed her down and she outgrew the hysteric mother stage. Kids didn't feel good sometimes, that's how it worked.

"Lie down" Amanda placed him on the bed and smiled at Nick, he returned the gesture, and put a shirt on, getting under the blanket with them.

"It's valeties" Ethan said "Abuela told me"

"Valentine's" Nick corrected him.

"Yes" he nodded "Abuela loves me"

"Of course she does" Amanda lightly kissed his forehead "we love you too"

"Why?" he looked at her.

"Why?" Amanda chuckled and looked at Nick "how could I not? You're my baby"

"Yes" he nodded "daddy's too"

"Yes you are" Nick watched the little boy, he loved that creature, the little hurricane who threw around his shoes, loved listening to the same story over and over and over again, who drew a painting on Frannie one time and then drew the same thing on the wall. This child who had his hair and his eyes but was so much like his mother, who loved his grandmother, his siblings, his parents and his dog and said it all of the time.

"Mommy I love you" Nick smiled to himself, it was like the boy could read his mind.

"Yeah?" she asked and Ethan nodded "why?"

Ethan was confused by the question and didn't know how to respond, he looked to his father for guidance.

"Why do we love mommy?" Nick looked at him.

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"Well" Nick glanced at Amanda, she looked very curious "mommy is amazing"

"Mommy you're amazing" Ethan turned to look at her, as if he was the one who came up with the answer.

"That's it?"

Ethan looked at Nick again, needing his help "she is smart and funny and beautiful"

"Mommy" Ethan pulled on her shirt so she'd look at him "you're smart and funny and beautiful"

"You are so sweet" Amanda kissed the tip of his nose.

"I'm sweet" he agreed.

"And mommy's also…" Nick continued, looking straight into her eyes "makes my life so much better by just being there"

"Yes" Ethan didn't repeat it this time, he yawned and Amanda thought he'd fall asleep, maybe the stomach ache was gone.

"So does daddy" Amanda looked at Nick "I love you"

"I love you" Nick caressed her cheek, careful not to disturb Ethan, whose eyes were now closed and he was breathing evenly between them.

"It's probably not Valentine's anymore" Amanda sighed, so much for making plans.

"How about we call in sick tomorrow" he offered.

"Only if you promise to kiss my stomach" she winked and they drifted off to sleep.


	13. Red

Nick yawned when he walked into the house. It wasn't that late but he was tired. It's been another hectic week, he's had a lot of those lately. With a very big case at work, forcing him to spend a lot of hours at the office, a few drives to San Diego to see Gil and a meeting with Zara's teacher. And then Ethan had a stomach bug, and both he and Amanda stayed at home with the poor boy and the poor floors and furniture. It was two days ago and even though he was feeling great now, they could still smell it.

The house was unusually quiet, it wasn't Ethan's bed time yet so he expected the boy to run into his arms and happily shout _daddy!_ Frannie walked to him and Nick patted her. He checked his phone, maybe Amanda took him somewhere and left him a message he didn't notice. But there was nothing.

"Amanda?" he called, walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"I'll be right out" she shouted from the bedroom.

"Is he asleep?"

"He's at you mom's" she replied "just a second"

Nick raised the glass to his lips when he heard her in the room.

"Hey babe"

He turned to look at her, almost dropping the glass when he saw her.

She was wearing red lace trim lingerie and giving him a very seductive smile.

"Hello" Nick couldn't close his mouth, his thoughts were gone and all he could do was stare at her sexy body, covered only by a few pieces of lace.

Amanda raised her brows, she loved his reaction, loved that he was still so attracted to her, the feeling was mutual. With the last few days being so crazy Amanda wanted them to have some fun, just the two of them. She thought about taking him out to eat but this seemed like a better idea, they could eat later. She sent Ethan to sleep at Cesaria and bought this set, knowing Nick would like it. She was right.

"Are you going to stand there, or…" she turned around, giving him a view of her behind and heard the glass being placed on the counter.

"I…" Nick walked after her, removing his jacked as fast as he could. His brain couldn't form a single sentence.

Amanda scratched her left butt cheek as she walked into the bedroom and Nick found it hot too.

"Have an itch you need me to scratch?" he wrapped his arms around her and nibbled on her neck.

"Mmm…I think you could help me with that" she turned around and kissed him, letting her hands sneak under his shirt and caressing his chest. She smiled as she reached his tie and slowly took it off, looking into his eyes. But the itch wasn't gone yet and she had to let go of him.

"You're ok?" Nick asked.

"Sorry" Amanda used both of her hands now, this wasn't her plan, but she couldn't get rid of the irritating feeling.

"Want me to help you out?" Nick leaned in to kiss her.

"It's fine" Amanda smiled and climbed on the bed "I think you should remove your clothes and join me, slowly"

Nick chuckled, but if she wanted a show he was going to give her one. He slowly unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor. He reached for his belt when he noticed her flinch.

"Damn it" she cursed, that itch wasn't going anywhere.

"What's wrong?" Nick moved closer.

"Nothing" she decided to ignore it and stepped off the bed "come here" she caught his lips and kissed him. Her fingers unzipped his pants and pushed them down as much as she could without breaking the kiss.

Nick stepped out of the pants and his lips moved to her neck, kissing and sucking on the skin tenderly. She looked amazing, smelled amazing and tasted unbelievably, like always. Nick sat down on the bed and pulled her to his lap. His lips were on her neck again, he couldn't get enough. But he wanted to feel other parts of her and lowered his head so he could reach her breasts. Amanda arched her back to make it easier for him and Nick didn't bother taking the red bra off, his lips closed around her nipple and he sucked, making Amanda gasped.

He felt her stir uncomfortably and he lay down, pulling her after him so she was lying on top of him. Nick let his hands wander up and down her body, but when he touched her butt she flinched again.

"Amanda" Nick asked "what's going on?"

"I don't know, I can't stop scratching my ass" she was a little embarrassed, she wanted them to have a special night together, but this was far from sexy.

"Let me see" he said.

"You'd like that, won't ya?" Amanda smiled and got off the bed, turning around, and removing the red sheer lace.

"Oh…"

"What?"

"I think you should see for yourself, it looks like a rash" he said apologetically, the skin was red and irritated.

Amanda walked to the mirror and turned so she could see her behind "shit" she scratched it some more.

"I don't think that's gonna help" Nick stood up and caressed her shoulder "I'll get you the cream"

When Nick returned with the cream Amanda was lying in bed, wearing a t shirt.

"Just so you know" Nick sat down on the bed "I think you still look hot"

"Yeah? You find rashes sexy?" she sounded upset.

"Want me to put it on?" he kissed her.

"Sure" she mumbled "at least someone's gonna cop a feel"

Nick chuckled and placed some of the cream on his hands and slowly rubbed her skin.

"Do I still look hot?" Amanda turned to look at him.

"I think we're gonna have to postpone this for when your skin gets better" Nick rested his head by hers and kissed her lips "I'm gonna go wash my hands" he walked to the bathroom so he could also put the tube in it's place.

He returned to the bedroom and lay down next to her "you know, it's the thought that counts"

Amanda chuckled and placed her head on his chest "I had really filthy thoughts"

"And I appreciate that" he caressed her back gently.

"I think it's that fabric" she sighed.

"I like you better without it"

"And now you have a great view of my ass" Amanda raised her head and looked at him.

Nick smiled, the routine wasn't easy on any relationship, especially with their lives being so hectic, with the job and the kids.

"I love it" he said "even with the rash"

"I'm sorry" she apologized "want me to…"

"Maybe some other time" he replied "do you want me to get you something to eat?"

Amanda lay on her side, careful not to smear the cream "get me a beer please"

"Coming right up" he kissed her and walked into the kitchen.

Nick grabbed a beer bottle and quickly made himself a sandwich.

"Want a bite?" Nick sat down on the bed and handed Amanda her beer.

"No thanks" she couldn't sit with the cream and took small sips so she won't spill the liquid.

"You want to go see the doctor tomorrow?" he asked.

"I'm embarrassed as it is, I just hope is passes till tomorrow, or at least get better" the annoying feeling was driving her crazy.

"Well, I'm here if you need someone to apply more cream"

Amanda chuckled "you'd like that"

"When the rash is gone I'm gonna show you exactly how much I love it" he placed the plate on the nightstand and kissed her.

"I'm gonna look forward to that" she took another sip of the beer and handed Nick the bottle.

Nick placed it next to his plate and lay back down, facing her "I love you"

"I love you too" she smiled.

"When did you have time to get this… tortures device?"

"Today" she kissed him "I figured you'd be ok with skipping dinner and going straight to dessert, but now we didn't get either"

"I got to massage your butt, I liked that"

"If you put on the underwear I promise to massage yours" her lips curved into a devilish grin.

"It's not funny" he said seriously "don't even think about it"

Amanda laughed "you're so sensitive"

"Yeah, ok" he chuckled "I'm not going to argue because you're not feeling too well"

"See" she caressed his cheek "you are sensitive"

"You like that side of me?"

"I like all of your sides" she teased.

"The feeling is mutual" Nick kissed her again, this time his mouth lingered by hers for a while. It was a shame they couldn't take it further, but Nick was content just lying in bed with her.

"You know" he said when their lips parted "I know your planned something else, but since it's just the two of us, how about we…" he got off the bed and extended his hand "how about a dance"

Amanda carefully got up and when she took his hand Nick pulled her to him, kissing her lips again.

"I thought you wanted to dance" she grinned and placed her hands around his neck.

"I'd love to dance with you" he rested his hands on her lower back, careful not to touch the cream and they started swaying to a nonexistent rhythm, just enjoying being so close to each other, enjoying what they had.

"I love you" he whispered and Amanda smiled, she knew that but she never got tired of hearing him say it.

For a long time she didn't believe she'd be loved, like she was cursed and undeserving. But being with Nick proved her wrong and that was something she was happy to be mistaken about.

"We should go out dancing" Nick said.

"Dressed like this?" she joked "I'm not sure anyone's gonna let me in anywhere while I'm wearing just this shirt"

"I'm glad you haven't lost your sense of humor" he smiled "you know what I mean"

"I hope it would work out better than tonight"

"I'm having a great time" he looked at her "I always do with you"

"Even when we cleaned Ethan's puke from the living room's floor?"

"Even then, but maybe not as much"

"You have great answers Nick" she leaned her forehead against his chest.

They pulled away after a while and Nick took the plate and the beer bottle to the kitchen.

"How bad is it?" he asked when she followed him.

"I think the cream is working, it's not as bad as earlier" she caressed his back "I think I'm gonna get some sleep"

"Ok" Nick planted a quick kiss on her lips "I'll be right there"

Once the dishes were clean Nick turned off the lights in the kitchen and joined Amanda in the bedroom. She was lying on her stomach and he could see the lower half of her body, her behind covered with a fresh layer of the anti-rash cream.

"Good night babe" Amanda said.

"Night"

* * *

The next day they were both busy with work and Ethan was happy to spend time with the two of them. They went to the playground and he wanted them to join him on the slide. Amanda's skin was better so she didn't mind. After a few trips down the slide Amanda and Nick pushed their son on the swing. He played with his friends, giving the parents a little rest.

"Let's head back home kiddo" Nick took his hand "it's dinner time"

"But I wanna play" Ethan said.

"Well" Nick picked him up and kissed his nose "mommy and I are hungry"

"Why?"

"Because Mr." Nick started walking towards Amanda "you had us running around and we are tired"

"So sleep here" Ethan pointed on the benches.

"But I want to sleep in my bed" Nick said and put him down on the ground, taking the small hand in his.

"With mommy" Ethan smiled.

Nick and Amanda exchanged a look and they walked back to their house.

After dinner (Ethan accidentally dropped some of his mashed potatoes on the floor), a bath (Ethan splashed water all over the floor and his parents) and a bedtime story (two). The house was quiet again.

"I can't believe this is the work of one child" Amanda crossed her arms. She was standing next to Nick in the living room.

"He's talented" he chuckled "you want the bathroom or the kitchen?"

"I'll take the kitchen" she kissed him "just because I love you"

After cleaning up they were both exhausted and crawled into bed. They loved Ethan's happy energy, how he enjoyed the little things, like playing with his fork, the sound the water made when he dropped something inside. He was discovering the world and they loved seeing it.

* * *

Amanda took Frannie for a walk while Nick gave Ethan his breakfast.

"Tasty?" Nick asked, ruffling the boy's hair.

"T…ty" he was still chewing but Nick figured it was good enough.

When he was done Nick washed Ethan's face, Amanda was going to be back soon and Nick wanted to shave before he had to drop Ethan's at his mother's place and go to work.

"You want to play for a while?" he asked "I gotta shave my beard"

"I want to go with you" Ethan smiled.

"Alright" Nick let him sit on the counter by the sink while he applied the shaving cream.

"I want to shave to" Ethan said.

"You don't have a beard yet" Nick took the razor.

"Yes, look" Ethan tilted his head "look!"

Nick smiled and took a bit of cream, placing it on his son's cheeks, far enough so he won't get any in his mouth.

He finished shaving while Ethan admired his reflection in the mirror "I have many beard" Ethan touched the cream and gestured at the razor "I want this too"

"This is for grownups" Nick wasn't going to let him play with a sharp object.

"But I want to shave like you daddy" Ethan stood up on the counter.

Nick covered the razor with the plastic cap and removed the shaving cream from Ethan's cheeks, he could see the boy found it very exciting.

"What are you boys doing?" Amanda stood by the door.

"Mommy we have beards" Ethan said "we're shaving"

"You're already shaving, ha?" Amanda walked into the small room "I thought I was gone for less than half an hour"

"Time goes by fast" Nick smiled at her.

"Come on baby" Amanda held Ethan "I'm gonna wash this sweet face and get you dressed"

"You go to work"

"Yep, so does your daddy"

Since Amanda was working the later shift Nick was driving Ethan to Cesaria and he kissed her goodbye before walking out of the house.

"Daddy" Ethan said after Nick strapped him in the seat "I love you and I love mommy and I love Frannie"

"We love you too" Nick kissed his forehead "so much"

Cesaria greeted her son and grandson with a smile. Even though she was getting older she was very happy to help take care of him. He was a ray of sunshine, a lot of rays. The boy made her feel so much younger. She was always happy to have him over for the night when Nick and Amanda asked her to and she enjoyed spending time with him while they were at work. She knew that he was going to preschool next year so every minute right now was precious.

"Thanks mom" Nick hugged her "have a good day"

"You too Nicky"

* * *

Nick got into the car and took a breath. There was something on his mind, the night with Amanda. It felt like weeks ago even though it hasn't even been 48 hours. He smiled thinking about how gorgeous she looked, greeting him with that skimpy outfit. He loved that even after all of this time she tried to make things special between them. But the truth was that he didn't need something like that, he was attracted to her no matter what she was wearing. He loved being with her, touching, kissing, making love. She was amazing and he felt like he couldn't wait to see her.

Nick had to turn left at the intersection, he's been taking this route for a long time now, making it on time everyday. But at this moment Nick didn't want to do the right thing, so he turned right.

"You forgot something?" Amanda was surprised to see him.

"Yes" Nick felt a little out of breath, but he knew it was just the excitement. He walked over to her and kissed her with everything he had. He could tell that she was surprised, but a second later he felt her hands on his back. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

"I like the way you think" Amanda mumbled when he allowed her to breath.

Nick didn't reply, he quickly kicked off his shoes and socks and removed his pants, and then helped her with hers. They couldn't take their time right now, the soft and slow lovemaking would have to wait. He pushed her on the bed and buried his face between her thighs, his tongue flickering her clit, making her wet and ready.

"Ah…" she gasped, not wanting him to stop. They way he looked at her when he entered the house was almost enough.

When Nick felt her tug on his hair he let go and climbed on the bed "turn around" he mumbled, happy to see that there was no sign of the rash.

"You should know" he hissed in her ear, grabbing a hold of his erection "that no matter what you have on, I am so incredibly attracted to you"

"Oh, fuck!" she screamed when he penetrated her. He wasn't taking his time, his movement was rushed. He felt on fire, for her.

He smiled when she asked for more and he pulled out almost completely so he could slam himself into her again.

"Tell my you're mine" he hissed.

"Ah…" the powerful movements made her lose her mind "I'm…oh…yours….fuck"

"I love you" he was so close and his right hand moved to her clit, making her moan even louder. She met each of his thrusts, but at this point she wasn't in control anymore, she felt like the world was made of their desire for one another, like time stopped moving just for the two of them.

She felt Nick explode inside of her, his orgasm pushing her to a climax and they both collapsed on the bed.

"Wow" she mumbled against the pillow, feeling Nick pull out of her "that was…hot"

Nick nodded, he was trying to catch his breath, hot didn't even begin to describe it.

"I'm gonna need a moment" she let out a laugh.

"I need to go" he looked at her but didn't move, he didn't want to.

"You should take a shower first" she touched his thigh.

"Probably" Nick smiled at her "want to help me out?"

"I don't know if I can stand"

Nick kissed her and sat up, he really had to hurry up.

* * *

"Nick" Amanda waited for him by the door after he took a shower and got dressed. She was smiling and even though he would have loved to have another round, it wasn't the right time.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You blow my mind"


	14. Stakeout

"Ready for take…what, four or five already?" Nick asked.

With a three year old and demanding careers date nights were important. They usually left Ethan with his abuela and went out to enjoy some tasty food and returned home to enjoy each other. But the past weeks all of their plans for date nights were deteriorated, sometimes at the last minute. Of course they enjoyed a few hours alone after Ethan fell asleep but both felt the need for more.

Finally, everything worked out, Ethan was already at Cesaria's and Amanda was finishing getting ready.

"Honestly" she walked into the living room "I can't remember. That's sad"

"It doesn't matter" he smiled "because we are going out and you look incredible" Nick kissed her cheek "hope you don't have any surprises underneath this dress"

Amanda's cheeks turned a little red, she threw the infamous lingerie away after it caused the damn rash.

"You think you're gonna get to see what's underneath?" she teased.

"That would be a perfect way to end this date"

"We'll see" she winked "Let's go"

Nick opened the car's door for her and drove to the restaurant. They chose Thai food this time and it didn't take them a lot of time to place the orders.

"I feel free now that we told Frank the truth" Amanda smiled.

"Yeah" Nick chuckled, they finally came clean, confessing to not liking the food in the restaurant he worked at "here's to not being invited there again"

They raised their glasses and smiled.

"How's your chicken?" he asked.

"Wonderful" she stole some of his noodles "your is great too"

They weren't in a hurry so they ate slowly, enjoying having a quiet conversation. They tried not to talk about work when they were out, the sensitive subjects and the fact that some of the information was supposed to be kept secretive, really didn't fit the date.

"Oh please" Amanda raised her brows and leaned in a bit "I have a feeling you never got in to trouble when you were in high school"

"Ok, you're right" he grinned "I've never been sent to the principal's office"

"Neither did I" she couldn't keep a straight face.

"Yeah right, I already know about some of the things you did"

"What? Skipping school? Everybody did that" she smiled "except for you"

"Ok, but have you ever almost burned down your house?" he asked.

"What? Now I'm curious"

"It's not that funny" he said, but her smile was infectious "ok, I was about twelve and it was my mother's birthday so I wanted to bake her a cake"

"I like where this is going" Amanda's grin widened.

"I found a recipe but I didn't understand some of the instructions, I'm still not sure what _folding the cream_ means, don't you just mix everything together? Anyway, I tried to do my best, and cleaned up too"

"I'm not surprised by that"

"Thank you" he smiled and continued with the story "I placed the concoction in the oven. It was ok for a while but I left it there too long and suddenly the house was filled with smoke"

"What did you do?"

"Obviously I started crying" he looked a bit embarrassed "but I called 911"

"So that's why you're not into baking"

"That and the fact my mom was very upset about it. The problem was that she had to go to work and left me alone. She sent Sonya to a friend but she couldn't afford a babysitter for me. She didn't think I'd make her a cake. But the firemen called child services"

"I had no idea" the story turned somber.

"We were lucky, she explained the social worker the situation and she understood so thankfully nothing happened. But it really upset my mom"

"Sorry" Amanda placed her hand on his palm.

"It's alright" Nick grabbed her hand and moved it to his lips "it's been a long time and I learned not to turn on the oven by myself"

"I'm fine eating bought cake for the rest of my life" she smiled "speaking of, how about we get dessert somewhere else"

"Oh…" Nick raised his brows suggestively.

"That's not what I meant, I thought we could get ice cream or a cake"

"Even better" he asked a waiter to bring them the check.

They paid and walked out of the restaurant, Nick held her hand as they walked down the street, enjoying the nice weather.

"Wanna go to the beach this weekend?" she asked.

"I'm sure Ethan would love to play in the sand with Zara and Gil"

"You know" she stopped walking and looked at him "we could go there now, when was the last time we went to the beach just the two of us?"

Nick thought about it for a moment but something caught his eye and distracted him.

"Nick?" Amanda noticed he was somewhere else "what's up?"

"You see this guy? With the jeans and the yellow shirt" Amanda turned around quickly and nodded "he's our number one suspect in a drug smuggling ring"

"Really? Has he ever seen you?" she asked.

"No, never. But he's been off the map for a long time, I can't believe he's here"

"You sure it's him?"

"Yeah" Nick took his phone out and called one of the agents he's been working with while Amanda watched the man, making sure he won't disappear.

Clearly this was a big deal and Amanda could hear the excitement in his voice. She knew how important his job was for him. He was doing a good job and was appreciated at the DEA.

"So?" she asked when he hang up.

"They are on their way, but…they want me to follow him" he was upset this is how their date night went, but they both knew that the job got in the way of things so they supported one another.

"Let's go then" she said.

"You want to go with me?" he was a bit surprised "Amanda…"

"What? You don't trust me? I'm not too happy about you doing this alone, with no weapon…and it's our date night, isn't it?" she winked.

Nick wasn't sure about it, what if something went wrong? She was a good detective, he knew she could handle herself, but what he felt for her meant he always worried for her safety more than he did when they were just coworkers.

"Come on" she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her "don't worry" they walked closer to the man, careful not to be noticed.

"What's his name?" Amanda asked.

"Julius Phoenix" he said "and no, it's not a nickname"

"You've gotta be kidding me" she chuckled.

Julius was talking on the phone and since Nick and Amanda kept enough distance they couldn't hear him. But as long as they could see him they were good.

"He's moving" Nick said quietly and they walked after him.

"Maybe next time we should eat a steak out" she said, wherever he was going, it wasn't close to the restaurant.

"Good one" he chuckled "thank you for lightening to mood"

They finally reached what seemed to be the final destination, the marina.

"He owns a boat?" Amanda asked.

"Not that we know, but he's properties are not under his name"

Julius was standing next to a boat, seemed like he was waiting for someone so Nick and Amanda hid, not wanting to be spotted.

"What is he doing?" Nick texted another agent to let him know what was happening "he's been standing here for a long time"

"Maybe he got stood up" Amanda suggested "or maybe not…"

A woman was walking to his direction and from his body language they realized he was waiting for her.

"You recognize her?"

"No" Nick had no idea who this woman was, he took a picture and sent to it his colleague.

"Where's the backup?"

"About fifteen minutes" he replied.

"When was the last time we were on a stakeout together?" she asked, still looking at the pair.

"I can't remember" he tried to think about it, but it's been years since they worked together and the answer didn't come "I wish I could get closer, to hear what they are talking about"

"He's not gonna recognize you?" she asked and Nick nodded "then how about a distraction?"

"A distraction?" Nick wasn't sure, he didn't want to get too close, he had a feeling Julius was armed. This was exactly why you can't work with someone you have a romantic relationship with, if anything were to happened to one of them at least Ethan would still have one parent, but they were together now and…he didn't want to think of that option.

But Julius could leave and he had no idea where he was going and if and when he was coming back. They've been trying to locate him for a long time so spotting him was some sort of a miracle. He looked at Amanda and nodded, he trusted her, she wasn't going to put them in danger.

"Follow me" she smiled and they made their way to the boat, she suddenly twirled and laughed loudly, Julius and his friend looked at her as she passed them.

Amanda acted as if she was about to climb the ladder and get onto the boat "is this one's yours? I can't believe you have a boat!"

"Who the hell are you?" Julius asked, taking a step towards her.

Nick figured out her plan, or at least some of it and rushed to her "honey, this isn't my boat" he turned to look at the man his team's been searching for a long time "I'm sorry"

"But you said…" Amanda pretended to be upset.

"Sweetie" Nick was about to touch her, he could feel the other people staring at them "you're wrong, my boat's over there" he gestured at the direction of his imaginary boat.

"Wrong?" Amanda crossed her arms "are you saying that I'm stupid?"

Nick had to admit Amanda was good at playing the angry woman "of course not"

"I'm sure you don't call your wife stupid!" she turned around.

They heard the woman who was with Julius chuckle, Nick hoped this was a sign that they had time, the back up was close, Nick had to make sure they stayed there and not disappear.

"Honey…" she threw a twist in the story and Nick figured the cheating husband wouldn't have what to say.

"I know you think I'm dumb" she walked to the other woman "he keeps on promising that he will get a divorce but no! He's still married to that bitch" she looked at Julius "are you married?" she turned to the woman "is he married? Cause trust me, there's no trusting a married man, they all…" now she turned to Nick, who was pretty proud of this performance "they are scumbags and liars"

"Sweetie" Nick walked to her, muttering another apology to the other couple, they seemed entertained "come on, I promise you that my lawyer is handling it and soon it will be over and we will be together"

"I want a big engagement ring" she looked at the other woman "I deserve one, don't you think?"

"Sure" she shrugged, clearly thinking Amanda was pathetic.

"I will get you a huge diamond" he stepped closer to Amanda, but from the corner of his eye he could still see Julius and the woman "the biggest one I can find"

Amanda smiled and took a step closer, she nodded and jumped on him without a warning, she moved her lips to his ear and whispered "I can see them" before kissing him with excitement, it was a messy and eager kiss.

"Well, congratulations" Julius clapped "but you should go find your boat now"

"I am Sorry" Nick let her go, he could see Andrew McCarthy, one of the agents he's been working with, running towards them, there were other agents with him and Nick sighed with relief.

"Let's go to your boat" Amanda grabbed his hand and her other arm moved up and down his chest.

"What's this?" the woman noticed the agents.

"Shit!" Julius said and was about to run away.

"I don't think you should go anywhere" Nick looked at him.

"What the hell?"

"Julius Phoenix" Andrew ran to them "you are under arrest"

After a few moments Julius and the woman were in the car and Andrew walked back to Nick and Amanda.

"Quite a night for the two of you, ha?" he chuckled.

"Just another day at the office" Amanda smiled.

"You can go home now, but I will need you at the office early in the morning" he then turned to Amanda "and we'll need your statement"

"I know the drill, I'll be there"

"I'll make sure somebody drives you to your car. Enjoy the rest of your night and thanks"

"See you" Nick was glad it worked out, so many things could go wrong, but that was the job and they knew the risks.

"How about the dessert we talked about?" Amanda asked when they were far enough.

"Which one?" he smiled.

"Right now I feel like eating a whole cake" she wrapped her arms around him.

* * *

They returned home with a big chocolate cake and sat at the table to enjoy it.

"We got lucky tonight" Nick smiled at her "it could have ended differently"

"You can say that about every day" she said.

"I know, but doing it with you after so long…it felt different"

"I guess it's a good thing we don't work together" she cut each of them another piece of cake.

Nick nodded "but I loved working with you back then"

"Me too, you were a good detective" she smiled "and you're a damn good agent, I'm proud of you"

"Thank you" he placed his hand over hers "you did a good job as the jealous girlfriend"

"I wasn't the girlfriend, I was the mistress" she corrected "you liked it?"

"You were really feisty" he chuckled, glad her anger was just acting, he did enjoy the way she kissed him and thinking about it made Nick blush a little.

"I see that you really liked it!" Amanda leaned back in her chair "do you want me to play the angry mistress? I didn't know you were into role playing"

"I thought you were good…and I enjoyed the kiss"

"You didn't say you're not into role playing" she laughed, licking the spoon and got up to put the leftovers into the fridge.

"Amanda…" he saw the dirty smile she was wearing and was a bit unsure of what she was planning.

"What if I'll be the southern belle" she sat in his lap "and you just came to town on your motorcycle, wearing a leather jacket…the bad boy" she kissed his lips.

"Why do I have to be the bad boy?" Nick asked "maybe I'm a southern gentleman and you're driving through town, on a motorcycle"

"I don't mind being the bad girl" she bit his lip playfully "would you like me to wear a leather jacket?"

"Howdy ma'am" Nick said with what was meant to be a southern accent.

Amanda did her best to control the laughter that was about to burst out of her throat, but Nick could see she didn't find the accent sexy.

"You know what? I think I'd rather just make love to Amanda if that's ok"

She smiled and kissed his cheek "alright then cowboy…" Nick gave her a serious look "what? You got to say your line"

She got up and they walked to the bedroom. She turned to him and caressed his cheek before kissing him softly, allowing him to deepen the kiss. After a few moments he pulled away and stepped behind her, reaching to the zipper. He loved that moment, unzipping the dress and exposing her body. He took his time, letting his fingers drag the slider down the chain until it was all the way down and he could see her back. Nick moved her hair to the side and kissed the nape of her neck, his hands reached her back, caressing it tenderly, feeling her tremble slightly. He loved the fact she loved his touch. Gradually he allowed the dress to fall on the floor and Amanda turned around to look at him. Seeing the look in his eyes always made Amanda smile, she could see love, care, attraction, so many things that made her feel safe with him.

She smiled at him and closed the gap, kissing his lips. It was her turn to start undressing him and she unbuttoned the dress shirt and he took it off, letting her pull the under shirt off of him.

"Should I leave the leather jacket on?" she joked.

"I want you naked" he shook his head.

"I want you naked" she reached his belt "so I'm gonna do something about it"

Nick helped out removing his remaining clothes but when he wanted to free her of her underwear Amanda shook her head and gently pushed him on the bed. She enjoyed the view of him lying there, waiting for her.

She got on top of him and her lips found his Adam's apple, her tongue traced it and she felt the vibrations as he moaned. The next stop for her lips was his left nipple, she flickered it with her tongue but didn't linger and moved down. She could feel Nick watching her, he let out a few approving noises when she kissed and nibbled on his lower abdomen but he cried out when her lips closed around one of his balls.

"Damn" he cursed as she sucked a little harder, moving to the other one, giving it the same treatment. Nick tried to keep his eyes open the entire time but her mouth was sending electric shocks through his body. She gave him a moment to breath before tasting the tip of his hard member. She used her hand on the base while her mouth was busy with the tip. Nick was completely lost, he couldn't think straight and it took everything he had not to thrust into her sweet mouth and explode without a warning.

"Amanda…" he called "get over here"

She did what he asked, but on the way to his face Amanda made sure to revisit a few sensitive spots.

Once her face appeared in front of his Nick pulled her in for a kiss, he wanted to removed the fabric that was left on her body and burry himself inside her so he turned her on her back and she raised herself enough for him to unclasp her bra. She threw the garment on the floor and Nick didn't waste time, wrapping his lips around the right nipple. But the desire took over him and he let her go and crawled down her body, pulling her underwear down her legs.

He positioned himself by her entrance and looked into her eyes as he pushed inside of her, making her eyes roll back from the pleasure. She spread her legs as much as she could, giving him more access. Nick's thrusts were slow and he caught her mouth with his as they moved against one another. Amanda's hands were on his back, she enjoyed taking it slow but then she remembered that she was supposed to be the bad girl, even though they weren't doing the role play thing. She caught him off guard and pushed him on his back, climbing on top of him.

"Let me teach you a few things cowboy" she whispered in his ear and playfully bit on his earlobe.

Nick didn't get a chance to react because a second later she lowered himself onto him. She started riding him, not bothering to take it slow. Nick's eyes moved up and down her body, her head was tilted back, her breasts moving to the rhythm. He sat up and kissed her, sneaking his right hand between their bodies.

"Ah…" she gasped when he found her clit and started rubbing it "I'm right there" she whispered in his ear and Nick was happy to know that because he was so close he could barely hold on. Amanda lowered herself on him one more time and melted in to him as she came, making Nick's orgasm immense.

Amanda's head was rested on his chest as they lay together, basking in the afterglow.

"You're asleep?" her eyes were closed and Nick wasn't sure.

"Not yet" she looked up at him and smiled "cowboy"

Nick chuckled but didn't say anything, he was tired and knew the night was coming to an end. Amanda kissed him and got up to go to the bathroom. Nick was already asleep when she returned. She lay down and covered them with the blanket.

* * *

Amanda helped Ethan put his pajamas on. They had dinner just the two of them because Nick had to stay at work after the events of the previous night so she got to spend one of one time with their son.

"We will play a little before bed time" she kissed the top of his head, inhaling his smell "but you can watch a bit of TV while I go change my clothes, are you sure I was giving you a bath?"

"Sorry mommy" he flashed a toothy grin and Amanda handed him the remote.

Ethan didn't like watching a lot of TV, but he recently discovered the joy of changing the channel. Amanda returned a few minutes later and sat down next to him.

"It's a horsie mommy!" he said happily, there was a horse and a young girl on the screen.

"Yeah, it's a beautiful horse, you want to watch it a little bit?" she asked and raised her hand "five minutes"

Amanda walked to the kitchen and drank some water when Ethan suddenly called her.

"It's daddy!"

"What?" she walked over to the couch, Nick wasn't home yet and she wasn't sure what Ethan was talking about.

"It's daddy!" he pointed to the screen and Amanda saw a man who looked a lot like a younger Nick.

Amanda wasn't sure what to say when suddenly the front door opened and Nick walked in.

"Daddy you're on TV" Ethan ran to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the screen.

"Hey buddy" Nick was confused, he knew Amanda wouldn't let him watch the news but why would he be on the news anyway, the media didn't get much info about the arrest.

"It looks like a younger you" Amanda smiled.

"What? This isn't me" Nick shook his head "come on"

"You don't have a horsie?" Ethan sounded disappointed.

"Sorry Ethan, but I don't have a real horse" Nick kissed the boy's cheek.

"It's bed time" she caressed his hair "say goodnight to daddy and Frannie"

"Goodnight daddy" Ethan hugged his father and ran to the dog "goodnight Frannie"

Nick followed them with his eyes as they walked to Ethan's room. There were days he was so busy he barely got to see the boy, but those were rare, Nick was glad he was spending a lot of time with Ethan, he did his best to see Zara and Gil as much as possible, but with them growing up it wasn't that easy as they preferred to spend more time with their friends.

He took a quick shower and Amanda was waiting for him in the kitchen when he returned.

"We left you a plate" she took it out of the fridge.

"Thanks" Nick kissed her and took the food from her hands.

"So…" she smiled while he put it in the microwave "I had no idea you were really a cowboy…and to think I laughed at your accent"

Nick shook his head but smiled "well ma'am" he tried the accent again, Amanda tried but couldn't keep a straight face. He took a step towards her and without a warning lifted her to the counter "I guess I've succumbed to your wicked ways"

"I am a bad girl" she teased.

"The worst" Nick kissed her lips.

The microwave's beep forced him to pull away and he walked to get his plate, not before placing a hand on his imaginary cowboy hat, taking it off and placing it on her head.

* * *

 _I recently came across the film Flicka and I just couldn't resist…_


End file.
